Necessity
by Alnedra
Summary: The Doctor receives two distress signals, one addressed directly to him. A glass woman who seems to know the Doctor, Jack's missing years and time travel. Ninth Doctor spoilers from Empty Child onwards. [eliminated Action from genre, apologies]
1. The Glass Woman

"Another distress signal?" Rose asked, a little apprehensively. She still had nightmares of the _last_ distress signal they had answered, 50 storeys and more below the Utah salt flats.

"Nope." The Doctor was twirling dials and pressing buttons with frenetic speed, all the while keeping his eyes on the flat screen set just above the console.

"Then what _is_ it?"

"It's two separate distress signals!" Jack jumped in, enthusiastically working away on his third of the console. Rose was currently sprawled over her third, trying to hold down two stubborn levers on opposite sides of her.

"Two signals, but highly similar," the Doctor continued, now peering intensely at the screen, "Same language, but thousands of years and millions of miles apart. But you know what's _really_ interesting? What's really _really_ interesting?"

"What?" Rose asked, slightly exasperated. There were a half dozen knobs and buttons pressing into her torso, and she was sure her waist was going to cramp soon if she didn't get up, "Can I let go of the levers now?"

"What?" the Doctor distractedly glanced her way for a split second, "Yeah, you didn't have to hold on to them all this time. A second would have been all right."

"Well, thanks for telling me!"

Ignoring Rose's glare, he pointed to the two patterns repeating themselves on his screen.

"What's interesting is that one of them is addressed to me!" he said gleefully.

"So…it's from someone you know?" Jack said, looking over the screen as well, "Or it's a trap?"

"No idea!" was the reply, "Let's go find out!"

The TARDIS landed with a great jolt that sent them sprawling into one another, laughing. Their mode of travel was at once so absurd and so - well, no other word would suffice, would it? - fantastic, they couldn't help but laugh each time the TARDIS landed somewhere and sent them into an untidy mess.

"So where are we now? And when's now?" Rose asked, dusting herself off as she stood up.

"An uninhabited planet orbiting some obscure star in a really deserted part of the Milky Way galaxy," the Doctor said.

"In other words, you don't know," Rose quipped, her eyes batting eloquently, causing Jack to go into a coughing fit as he tried to hide a snigger.

"Nobody's ever come here, who'd name this forsaken piece of rock?" The Doctor burst out, "People have better things to do than go around naming planets that nobody ever lives on, you know."

"But _somebody_ must be here, or else the signal wouldn't exist, right?" Jack cut in.

The Doctor gave a gangly shrug.

"That's what we're here to find out."

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The atmosphere was safe enough, though a little too thin for Jack and Rose. There was barely life here, in the form of red grass that grew over every inch of land on the planet. There didn't seem to be any other life form, except a variant of the grass that grew underwater.

A red sun hung over a blue-purple sky, and an everpresent wind made the blood-red grass sway rhythmically on the numerous hills.

As the two humans were equipping themselves with small canisters of oxygen to augment their breathing, the Doctor looked at his console again, and frowned.

"Bad news?" Jack asked. The screen showed the terrain around them; the TARDIS had landed on a shallow dip among the hills. The red grass was tall here, reaching over a metre in height, all around.

"Maybe." The Doctor switched to another display, where a beeping dot was shifting rapidly towards the centre of the screen, "The source of the signal is getting closer. And moving much faster than a humanoid can run."

"That doesn't sound very…distressed," Rose said slowly, "So is the source a humanoid?"

"Yes, but the TARDIS won't tell me what kind."

"Let's go meet the neighbours then," Jack half-joked, surreptitiously patting the small blaster he had strapped to the inside of his vest. He knew the Doctor abhorred using guns, but sometimes there was just one way to communicate.

They opened the doors and stepped outside. Rose breathed in, and found the air to be clear and cold - and very sparse. She was glad she had her breathing tube hooked about her ear like a mobile phone's hands-free set; the end of the tube was metal and curved towards her mouth like the kit's microphone would.

The three looked around the waving sea of grass, looking for a humanoid that could move incredibly fast. Jack spotted it first and he tensed, hand ready to reach for his gun.

The figure appeared on the crest of the hill immediately before them, framed against the violently coloured sky. The light of the red sun shone around her - and through her, diffracting through the contours of her body, shimmering through the many strands of her hair, which wavered in the wind like the grass.

She seemed to be made entirely of glass, and glided as if she were on wheels. Rose, remembering the last Dalek and its distress signal, shuddered.

"Cold?" the Doctor immediately asked. Even when he seemed entirely distracted, Rose knew - hell, the whole world seemed to know - that his attention was always on her. He always seemed to have half an eye at least on her.

Rose shook her head.

"Just remembering somethin'" she murmured.

The figure came to dead stop about ten feet away from them. She seemed to be human in form, albeit one made of glass, down to the fluttering edges of her gown, that seemed to be a cross between a dressing gown and a kimono.

"Doctor?" the figure spoke in a ringing, echoing voice, entirely unaccented and uninflected.

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**AN**: More to come...hopefully.


	2. A Puppet and Butterflies

"Hello!"

The Doctor grinned manically and gave the figure a little wave.

"I have…a message for the…Doc-tor," the figure talked like a clockwork toy winding down, "I have…been…sent…my Lady."

"Who's your Lady?" The Doctor asked, serious again. He scanned the figure with his screwdriver, frowning at little at the results he received.

"Doc-tor?" The figure said again, "I have…a message…for the Doc-tor…"

It stopped, its gown rippling in the breeze.

"Yes, I'm the Doctor. Now that I'm here, give it to me. Give me the message."

The figure held out a slim glass hand, palm up. With a quick glance at its face and hand, the Doctor reached out his own and touched hers. Immediately a ripple ran through the figure, infusing it with colour and substance. The glassy transparency disappeared, replaced by a pale flesh-coloured tone; the gown turned milky white and the hair turned jet-black. The figure's lips infused with a pale pink and the glassy eyes turned deep brown.

The woman looked slightly Asiatic, with her almond shaped face and slightly slanted eyes. She smiled at them benevolently.

"Hello, Doctor," she said in a more human voice, "It's been a long while. You look different."

"I've changed a bit," he replied.

"Rose, Jack," she nodded at each of them as if they were old friends, "How've you been? Still gallivanting around with our cranky old friend?"

"Hang on, we've never met you before, " Rose interrupted, "Don't talk to us like you know us."

The woman's face turned sombre.

"Oh dear." She said, more to herself than to them, "So this is in your past, I gather. Or rather… earlier in the timeline than my first meeting with you."

Her smile came back again, like the sun from the clouds.

"I always wondered how you lot knew so much about me when we first met."

She gave a graceful bow from the waist, spreading her arms out in a formal manner, as if paying obeisance.

"I am Aranea, first of the Arachnid-human hybrids. Pleased to make your acquaintance."

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They had a picnic in front of the TARDIS. Aranea spun out from her hands a large white cloth that resembled powdered silk but was much tougher, and Rose and Jack went to the kitchen to get out some food and drink. While they were gone, the Doctor spoke with Aranea.

"You're a hybrid between humans and what, again?" he asked.

"Arachnids," she replied, "I think you've not heard of that race yet. We did not exist before the Time War."

"I see. What is the Arachnid race like?"

"Ah, Doctor, always inquiring," she smiled, "But in good faith, I shall tell you what I know. You have no reason to think of me as a friend as yet, but I hope this information will stand you in good stead.

"The Arachnid race appear among the other denizens of the universe very far in the future, and number only about a thousand in all. All are female, and usually look like humans, although we have fairly extensive shapeshifting abilities. We are all near-clones of each other, and do not reproduce, sexually or asexually. However, since we seem to be effectively immortal - only one death has ever occurred in our race - that is not a matter of great concern."

"How did that one Arachnid die?"

Aranea looked sad for a moment, bleak and empty.

"She died giving birth to me. She was my mother, and Empress of the Spiral Galaxy."

"You said that Arachnids don't reproduce, so how -?"

"That is why my mother died. She was adamant that she would have a child by my father, who died before I was even conceived, " that brought a quirk to the Doctor's eyebrow " and taking his DNA, she tried to make a gestalt being in her own body, comprised of his DNA and her own. She was ultimately successful, and found out along the way how to combine Arachnid DNA and human ones without causing harm to the host body. But by that time, it was too late for her."

"So why have you sent me a distress signal?"

"Because the other distress signal you are hearing requires my presence, "she told him, "But without my Citadel, which is the equivalent of your TARDIS, I cannot get there on my own. I need you, Doctor, to come and talk to me before you approach the other signal."

By this time, Rose and Jack had re-emerged from the TARDIS, carrying armloads of food and drink.

"But aren't we talking to you already? You're here." Rose asked.

"Not exactly," The Doctor explained, "This is just a puppet. Her real body is somewhere else."

"Very good, Doctor," Aranea applauded, "I've scattered myself as far as I dared, but it still took too long to contact you. Will you come? Can you trust me enough for that?"

"Why can't you just tell us what we need to know now, Aranea?" Jack asked, seating himself next to her.

"I wish I could," she answered, a fond smile playing on her lips as she turned towards him," But this body only holds a fragment of my memories and consciousness. I can't even tell you the nature of the other distress signal; that knowledge is stored in another part of me."

"So…how many parts of you are there? And are they all so beautiful?" Jack leaned closer to ask, with his trademark grin.

"Jack," The Doctor started, but Aranea chimed in with the next part, "There's a time and a place."

Rose laughed as Jack gave the Doctor a look of mock annoyance.

"Seems like you've met Jack before, at least, " Rose said.

"Oh, I know Jack," Aranea said wryly, "Glad to see that he was always like that."

That brought another grin to the two humans' faces.

"Can you give me coordinates to your location?" the Doctor asked, in the silence that followed.

"Here."

Aranea handed him a small slip of silk, on which was printed, or written, a series of characters. It was in no language that Rose recognised, and judging by the perplexed frown on Jack's face, it was strange to him too.

"I'll think about it." The Doctor pocketed the slip.

Aranea stood up.

"Thank you, Doctor. I have to go now. This body cannot hold the link much longer."

"Don't you want to come with us?" he asked.

"No, I have my own way of getting back," she gave a playful smile, "Besides, I might get there faster than you will."

The Doctor look offended.

"I'll have you know that the TARDIS is the -"

"I know the TARDIS is the best ship in the universe," Aranea cut in.

Her body began to turn white, hair, eyes, and skin. Then her shape began to waver, and a multitude of white butterflies erupted from her. Her last statement carried to them like an errant breeze.

"I was commenting on her pilot."

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AN: I seem to be making the preamble way too long. No worries, one more chapter and we should hit the meat of the plot. crosses fingers


	3. A Stitch in Time

They landed in the middle of a village, which seemed to be made of rickety wooden houses. Fields extended as far as they could see in each direction except one, dotted by the occasional building. It was as flat as the previous planet had been hilly. A huge lake dominated the north side of this continent and they could make out some trees near the centre of it, the only ones in the area.

A few of the natives seemed to be expecting them. They were short, blue skinned and almost painfully polite. Rose wondered if they were the ancestors of Rafello. They directed the trio to a small boat tethered to a worn wooden pier.

The Doctor was surprisingly good at punting; Rose watched his long, lean arms push the pole into the lake, moving hand over hand along the pole to propel the boat. It did not look like any technique she knew from watching punters along the river Cam one summer.

"I take it you didn't learning punting in England," Jack commented, leaning back to admire the view of the lake.

"Nope," the Doctor said, as he focused on their destination, "This is more of an Oriental method. Learnt it from some lake fishermen in 17th century China."

They reached the island in the centre of the lake. The inside of the island was hidden by the ring of trees they had noticed earlier. As they ducked under low-hanging branches to enter, they were greeted with thousands upon of thousands of butterflies, swarming in the centre of the island. A small clearing could be seen further in, and Rose could barely make out a prone humanoid form on the grass.

"Doctor," she said, tugging at his arm as she made her way towards the humanoid form.

The butterflies were settling on the form and melting into it. After several minutes, the number of butterflies noticeably decreased. Another few minutes, and only a handful were fluttering around. The humanoid form looked like a statue made of glass. A ripple, and she looked human, dressed in a gown that shimmered and changed colour constantly. She opened her eyes and looked up at them. It was Aranea.

She got up slowly, reaching out her hand to catch the few errant butterflies that circled her. As she caught one, recognition filled her face.

"Hello, you lot," she smiled at them, "I told you I'd get here first."

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"Right then, start at the beginning, and don't leave anything out."

The Doctor nodded his thanks to a native who handed him a large bowl of beverage. They were seated in a small hut, which seemed to be the village town hall. Each of them took a side of a table, Rose on the Doctor's left, Jack to his right, and Aranea facing him. She smiled.

"Well, a long time ago, there was this big bang, and then -"she started.

"Not _that_ beginning!" the Doctor said irritably. "You said you met us before. You said you received instructions from me. So, how did this all get started, and what is _this_ exactly?"

"I can't tell you everything, that would cause a paradox in your timeline," she replied, "I'm a time-traveller, but my ship - my Citadel - vanished a long time ago."

"You're from our future, then?" Rose asked, eyebrow raised.

"That is correct," Aranea nodded," I was born in the far future, in linear time. Billions of years from now. My first contact with you would also be further along in your timeline."

"But that's not possible, is it?" Rose turned to the Doctor.

"It's very dangerous, but possible," the Doctor replied, "_If_ both parties know what they're doing, and the risks involved."

"I know what I'm doing," Aranea said calmly.

"You're not a Time Lord," The Doctor's tone was blunt.

"I'm not," she conceded, "But you might say I occupy the same niche."

"Oh, really?" The Doctor's head tilted, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Well, that went nowhere fast," Jack commented after a short, tense silence.

"And you're not helping," the Doctor snapped.

"What do you know about this time period, Doctor?" Aranea asked.

The Time Lord quirked an eyebrow at her. She was trying to test him? Him, the last Gallifreyan left in the universe?

"The Fourth Great and Bountiful Human Empire just ended, although the decline had been going on for at least two thousand years," he said, "There is a period of chaos and warfare, but within five hundred years a new alliance is set up among the stronger trading galaxies. It's generally referred to as the First Coalition of Galaxies. How's that?"

"Ten out of ten," Aranea teased, "Except that instead of five hundred years, it looked for a while that the warfare would go on, well, forever. Many planets got pushed into the Dark Ages due to the collapse of their economies, some were decimated by wars and forgot even how to get into space."

"But Earth is supposed to serve as neutral ground for trade and diplomatic talks," The Doctor argued, "Even after the collapse of the Empire, Earth is still a major trade and communication hub. There isn't a single megacorporation or criminal organisation that doesn't have a major branch on Earth. Everyone has a vested interest to make sure that Earth's kept out of any hostility."

"Except that something happened to Earth," Aranea replied, "It was only a backwater planet until a few hundred years ago. The Fourth Great and Bountiful Human Empire declined for two thousand years, and then it just ended. One day, everyone woke up, and nine-tenths of the population on Earth was wiped out. Nobody knows how it happened. No warships were found, no massive weapons. Nothing. But entire continents were cauterised and warped by laser fire."

"What? When was this?" the Doctor almost leapt out his stool.

Aranea looked at him speculatively.

"I can't tell you when," she said, "I may have said too much already. The Doctor I travelled with initially knew all this. Which means that you'll have to find out yourself, Doctor."

The Doctor slowly sat down again. She was right; there was no shortcut to knowledge. He would have to find out the hard way. He thought back to the events of Satellite 5. Was the destruction of the Jagrafess not enough to get humanity back on track? He frowned to himself as he tried to think this through.

"And why are you here?" he asked.

"I've been trying to move events back to how they were supposed to be," Aranea answered, "And so far, I've had some success. I floated the idea of a Coalition among some of the larger warlords, and once the bigger players in the game stating forming alliances, the smaller powers were clamouring to join in as well. It's not quite a Coalition yet, but it's getting there. There's very little I can do now to make events move any faster, so I've been spending my time travelling and looking for my Citadel."

"Tell me about the distress signal, the other one," the Doctor said, moving down a mental list.

"One of my puppets, I think, like the one you met on the red-grass planet," she said, "Pretty place, but boring. I'm guessing it has to do with the Coalition at that time becoming stratified and turning into a tool for the criminal organisations. Much like what it is now, but worse."

"But Sigius Severn becomes Premier when that happens and cleans up the Senate House from the bottom up," the Doctor mused.

"If Sigius Severn exists - now," Aranea reminded gently.

"Hmm. So what do you think the problem is?"

Aranea shrugged.

"I don't know." She admitted, "I wasn't there when you left my puppet there, and because she's in the future, I can only get the vaguest impressions of what she's doing. But she's very single-minded, and if I'm not there when you see her, you might not be able get anything sensible out of her."

"So the whole point of this is that you want a lift in my TARDIS forward in time?"

The Doctor's face was sceptical and not at all friendly. Aranea did not answer, but stared at her bowl, looking as if she was trying to remember something.

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AN: Ok, I think the next chapter should start things up!


	4. The Journey Begins

"Words won't be enough," Aranea finally said, "I could talk about Jack being an ex-TIME Agent," Jack averted his eyes, "Or Rose's first adventure with you fighting the Autons," Rose's eyes widened, " but that's not what you're really looking for. There'll always be a reason you can think of that explains why I know these things."

"Telepathy comes to mind," the Doctor said, "Or you're a very well-informed agent."

Aranea nodded. Rose felt that Aranea was a rather introverted person, for all the affection that she seemed to display towards them. She was too still for a human, none of the slight twitches and adjustment of limbs that happened almost constantly. And just when Rose thought she had a handle on Aranea's character, the latter did another surprising thing.

Smiling like a Cheshire cat, Aranea leaned forward towards the doctor across the table.

"And what would you consider to be the _ultimate_ proof, Doctor?" she asked, her voice low and challenging.

Almost unconsciously, the Doctor drew back from her, leaning back. His eyes darkened as he frowned slightly at her. _I'd definitely be folding my cards right about now_, Jack thought to himself.

The half-human got up from her stool, bowed slightly to the natives still hovering about, and walked out of the hut. Once over the threshold, she turned to the TARDIS crew.

"Are you going to be yakking all day, or shall we get down to business?" she asked.

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They were standing in front of the TARDIS, the Doctor leaning against one side of the blue box as Jack stood next to him, arms folded loosely. Rose stood on the other side, watching Aranea stroke the door of the TARDIS fondly.

"What's your proof, then?" the Doctor asked flippantly, "You're going to rub away at the door until you've worn a hole through?"

Aranea's hand went up to her bodice, which was folded in the fashion of a kimono. She noticed the Doctor and Jack staring at where her hand was going - for entirely different reasons, she could gather - cleared her throat primly, and turned around, using Rose as a shield. Rose's eyes widened again when she saw what Aranea drew out from a fold in her bodice.

"Rose, what is it?" the Doctor asked, slightly worried at Rose's reaction. Rose only grinned, her teeth caught between her back teeth. 

Aranea faced the TARDIS door again, and with a smug smile at the Time Lord, unlocked the door and opened it. Rose's grin widened when she noticed the Doctor's jaw drop a bit, before he recovered himself. Aranea walked up to the console and placed her hands on the portion that hid the Heart of the TARDIS. She could feel it, humming quietly away.

"I know you haven't met me before," she said silently, "But I've missed you."

The door closed, and Aranea turned around. The Doctor clapped his hands together in a business-like way and rubbed them.

"All right then, we're off," he said cheerily, "Ever onwards. Let's get this show on the road!"

The musical sound echoed off the walls of the console room, taking them by surprise. It was like a dozen windchimes going off, but much lower. The source of the sound had her hand over her mouth, her shoulders shaking. Aranea was laughing.

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AN: And we're off! Finally ()


	5. Women Wept

The TARDIS shook like a storm-tossed ship, which in a sense it was. Aranea caught Rose as she was almost thrown towards a railing which had not been fully padded with worn yellow foam sheets. As she steadied Rose, the young woman looked at her quizzically.

"How come you're not falling all over the place?" she asked.

"I've anchored myself to the platform," Aranea answered simply. As the TARDIS tilted precariously again, Aranea's skirt hem lifted off the ground enough for Rose to see what she meant; the half-human's feet were no longer there, but six long crystal claws gripped the grill of the platform. Rose blanched a little.

"Rose, the levers!" the Doctor shouted.

"I'm on it!"

Rose rushed forward and pulled down three levers on her side of the console. One kept popping upwards again, and she had to use both hands to hold it down. Aranea leaned forward and clasped her hand over Rose's, helping to keep the lever down.

"It's no good, the distortion's too strong!" Jack shouted over the roar of machinery, "We have to land now, or we'll end up thrown even further off-course!"

The Doctor looked at Jack sceptically for a moment, folding his arms. Aranea noticed that when he got distracted, the Doctor seemed immune to the pitching and yawing of the TARDIS.

He nodded and started pumping away.

"Brace for impact," Jack warned.

_Ting!_

Miraculously, no one fell down. Jack barely managed to stay on his feet by clinging to the console, and Rose had fallen back against Aranea, who seemed as steady as a pillar.

The Doctor was already standing in front of the display screen, frowning at it.

Rose dashed to the screen, eager to find out where they were.

"So how did we do?" Jack asked, once he was steady again.

"Not good. Still thousands of years early and nowhere close," the Doctor replied glumly.

"Any idea what that distortion was?" Jack opened his wrist computer and checked some data. All he got were some melancholy beeps.

"Could be any number of things," the Doctor cycled through different displays with such speed that it was only a chromatic blur to Rose, "Might be a passing storm, might be a permanent temporal distortion concentrated around the time period. No way of telling, considering how wild things are out there now."

"So we can't get to the signal?" Jack looked rather disappointed.

"There are methods around these types of disturbances," the Doctor replied, "Ever tried tacking a sailboat in a contrary wind?"

"Yeah," Jack nodded, "Just go in a zig-zag pattern till you get to your destination."

"That's what we're going to do."

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They had to stop a second time when some of the TARDIS' circuits blew. The two men looked at the damage and declared it would be a good twelve hours' work to fix it all. Even with Aranea helping with the soldering and wiring, it was still hard going. Seven hours in, Jack declared a break.

"Break?" the Doctor grimaced, "And do wha'? Watch Coronation Street on the telly?"

"I don't know about you, Doctor, but we've been cooped up in the TARDIS for over two days now, being thrown around the console room like pinballs," Jack said emphatically, "I think we all deserve a break."

As the Doctor still looked pretty irked, the Captain decided to try a different approach.

"Come on, we've been on a strange planet for seven hours now," he said in a more congenial tone, "Don't you want to know where we are?"

That brought some grudging consideration on the part of the Doctor, and Jack knew he won when the Time Lord turned to look at Rose, who seemed close to bursting, but still tried to act casual.

"We won't have to go too far," she shrugged, "Just a stroll, take in the sights, get some fresh air…?"

"All right, "the Doctor conceded, "But we come back within two hours and fix the TARDIS. There's a distress signal to answer!"

Aranea watched the entire exchange from across the console room, a slight smile on her face. He looked different, but he was still the Doctor she remembered.

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They were standing in the middle of a frozen ocean. Waves loomed above them, a hundred feet in the air, and everything was tinged in silver and black by the great white moon.

Jack and Rose were decked out in quilted jackets, scarves, caps and gloves; their breath misted heavily in the frigid air. The Doctor's only concession to the cold was a dark scarf that matched his jumper, which Rose had thrown around his neck before they emerged from the TARDIS.

Aranea wore her usual gown; her breath did not mist in the air.

The Doctor had been reluctant but indulgent when they were leaving the TARDIS, but once outside, he suddenly became brooding and grim. Any attempt to draw him into conversation failed, and he answered questions in a brusque manner.

Jack raised an inquisitive eyebrow at Rose, who could only shrug.

"How did everything get frozen so quickly, Doctor?" Rose asked, running her hand over a curving ice-wall, "Look, all the fishes are still trapped inside!"

_The Iquoya knew the sun was failing; already two ships were ready, able to house two thousand people each. They were a meagre race; the womenfolk seldom had more than two children in their lifetimes. But the two ships could still only contain a tenth of their small population; more would be needed. _

_It was decided that the very old and the very young would go first, to take care of each other. Every able-bodied Iquoya left behind would work together to build more ships. They calculated that they could complete enough vessels before the land froze over entirely, killing their livestock and their crops._

_A strange man came to them as they were completing the last three great ships; more than five thousand souls were still on the planet then. He told them that there would be no time to complete the ships, as a powerful device was going to enter their atmosphere and hasten the freezing process. _

_The strange man was no believed at first, but he directed the astronomers to look to the skies. They found a small thing, barely more than a falling star, those rocks that entered the atmosphere and burnt to nothing. But they could see that as other falling stars came into contact with it, they would be covered in a thick coat of frost, and break to pieces. _

_There were underground bunkers that they took refuge in, which they lived in to escape the cold above. The strange man, the Doctor, told them it would not be enough. They would have to coat the doors of the bunkers in gold, or the doors would be frozen and they would all be trapped inside._

_A thousand men undertook to do the gilding; all the rest, especially the womenfolk, who were as strong as the men, but far more precious for the fruits of their wombs, locked themselves into the bunkers. _

_The Chief Engineer, Two-Doves-in-Flight, asked the Doctor to go in; should the gilding not go as planned, they would need the Doctor to find a way out. Reluctantly the Doctor agreed._

"The sun dimmed," he answered shortly, "The global temperature dropped, so everything froze over."

"You've been here before, then?" Jack asked, interested. Was it grief that made the Doctor so moody?

"Yes."

"So what's the planet called?"

_As they waited within the bunkers, the Chief Engineer's wife, Fox-by-the-River, showed the Doctor the communication room. From there, they could see, and talk to, all the thousand who were toiling outside. A hundred screens covered one wall, blinking from man to man, standing, crouching or stretched, welding thin leaves of gold to the massive bunker doors. There were twenty bunkers. Forty pairs of doors, each a hundred feet tall and three hundred feet wide._

_As they watched tensely, Fox-by-the-River quietly told the Doctor of an old folk tale that predated the Iquoya's colonisation of this planet. Her grandmother had told her, when the Iquoya escaped from their enemies, fleeing across the stars, an old sage had warned them not to take the first good planet they came to, for there their children would wither and die in the womb, and men would weep for their unborn sons and their dying wives. Nor should they take the second planet, for their children would be few, and the menfolk would be taken from them in catastrophe, and the women would weep. Only the third planet they came to would guarantee the Iquoya safety for all time._

_But Hawk-diving, their Great Chief, looked at the first planet verdant and warm, and his heart twisted to abandon it. When he saw the second planet they came to, and saw how exhausted his people were from the flight, he declared that they would settle here. _

_What did the sage say? The Doctor asked. Fox-by-the-River shrugged. He told Hawk-diving that he would not regret this decision, but his children's children would. In defiance of the sage, Hawk-diving said that he would name this planet Women Wept. It would be a false name, he said, for the fields were green, and the hunting plentiful. No woman would weep here for her lost man. _

"It's called Women Wept," the Doctor said, staring down at an abysmal valley that plunged beyond the moonlight's ability to illuminate it.

"Why's that?" Rose was puzzled by the strange, sad name.

_We cannot finish the doors in time, Two-doves-in-Flight reported, we are sealing the doors now. The Doctor called him insane; the thousand men would freeze in an instant once the device entered the atmosphere. Two-doves-in-Flight only smiled. Though a man of four and forty years, his cheeks were smooth as a child's. No Iquoya male had facial hair. He looked like a cherub as he smiled._

_Take care of our womenfolk, Two-doves-in-Flight said. Goodbye. All the screens turned dark. The Doctor remembered that Fox-by-the-River had screamed her husband's name once, before falling silent. _

_They felt the impact of the device even within the bunkers. The air within, heated by great generators, grew cold in an instant. And the Doctor heard a wail rise outside the communication chamber, a wail echoed in the other nineteen bunkers. The women were lamenting their menfolk, lost outside. The women wept._

"Got to do with the shape of the continent," the Doctor answered, "It's curved like a lamenting woman."

"Wow, is it?" Jack's eyes opened wide in slight disbelief.

"Yeah," the Doctor whispered.

He looked around the bleak tableau, his eyes hidden in darkness. Rose felt a chill in her heart that had nothing to do with the cold air.

"Doctor?"

She touched his arm, and felt a slight tremor go through the Time Lord's body. He looked down at her and suddenly grinned, tilting his head back in an amused fashion.

"Right, you two go look around if you want," he said airily, "I'm going back to the nice warm TARDIS and have myself a cup of tea."

He sauntered off towards the TARDIS, then paused and turned around.

"Oh, and make sure you've got Aranea before coming back in, all right?"

With a cheerful nod, he went on his way.

"What was that about?" Jack asked, pushing his cap back to rub his forehead. Sometimes the Doctor's mercurial change in temper gave him a migraine.

"I'm just as confused as you are," Rose admitted, "Come on, let's go find Aranea and get back in there before he starts going barmy again."

"You mean that wasn't barmy enough?"

That earned Jack a punch to his ribs.

Aranea had watched the trio from a distance; there was something she had to do, and it was not convenient if they happened to look her way while she did it. As the Doctor's brooding caught the two humans' full attention, Aranea edged closer to the valley and jumped in. She disappeared into the darkness almost immediately.

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AN: This is an extra-long chapter cos I've got to be away for a week. Also adding an intermission after this. I've got a few intermissions that I'll sprinkle here and there, probably in between longer sequences like this one. It's not really an action one, is it? Oh dear.


	6. Intermission: A Rose by any other name

"How about just 'A'?" Rose suggested.

She was lounging on the chair, the magazine she was reading tossed to one side. Jack was on his back, working on some wiring under the console. The Doctor had been working, but now leaned against the console, tossing the silver studded ball from hand to hand.

"No." he said with conviction.

"Why not?" Rose challenged.

"Had an old companion with a similar name; it's too close," he replied.

"All right," Rose said slowly, "How about Rani? I had a classmate named Rani when I was a kid. It's a nice name."

"No."

This negative was even more adamant.

"What's wrong with this one, then?" Rose's tone was slightly incredulous.

"Yeah, what's wrong with it? Sounds good."

Jack emerged from under the console and stood up, hands on hips. The Doctor shot him a glare and went back to tossing the ball.

"Long story. Try another one."

"We're running out of syllables here, Doctor," Rose grated.

The only reply she got as a manic grin.

"Nee sounds good," Jack suggested, "Short and sweet."

The Doctor rolled his eyes.

"Never saw Monty Python, have you?" he asked in a patronising tone.

"Monty Who?"

"Never mind. Next!"

"Next what?"

Aranea emerged from a corridor, looking at them curiously. Rose sat up immediately, her lips clamping shut as she tried not to grin in embarrassment. Jack gave a chuckle as he adjusted from foot to foot.

"Just talking about names," he said with an over-casual shrug.

"Oh." Aranea said, although her face spoke volumes.

"I've got the kettle on," she went on," Any orders?"

They made their usual requests; Irish coffee for Jack, tea with two sugars for the Doctor, and milky tea with one sugar for Rose. As Aranea turned back down the corridor, Rose spoke out on impulse.

"Nya."

Aranea paused, and turned to face Rose.

"Yes, Rose?" she asked.

Barely able to conceal a grin, Rose shook her head slightly.

"Uh, it's nothing - much, I meant it's nothing much," she stammered, "Could you check that we've still got..um.. Hobnobs in the cupboard?"

"All right." Aranea smiled, but her face grew quizzical as she turned away. Everyone seemed to be a strange mood this afternoon.

Once she was out of earshot, the Doctor gave Rose a baffled and slightly indignant look.

"Nya?" he asked, as if it were the most preposterous thing he had ever heard.

"If you tell me _that_ sounds like an old Companion's name, I'm gonna smack you."

Rose raised a finger in warning.

"But it does sound - Ow!"

Rose had not waited for the Doctor to finish before making good on her threat. The Doctor looked hurt as he rubbed his stricken arm. Rose tossed her head at him, grabbed her magazine and practically skipped down the corridor after Aranea.

Jack shook his head and grinned.

"Wha'?" the Dcotor demanded.

"You got _so_ owned," Jack gloated, as he followed in Rose's wake.

Alone, the Doctor shrugged.

"Not my fault if I had a lot of Companions," he said, "Wonder what Nyssa would make of this?"

The lights in the console room flickered and changed colour for a while before going back to normal. The Doctor looked irritably at the central column.

"Don't _you_ start," he warned.


	7. Goddess of Time

Aranea had emerged from the valley by the time Jack and Rose started looking for her. She told them that she had gotten lost behind some waves and only just turned around to get back to the TARDIS. They entered the TARDIS in silence, each wrapped in their own thoughts.

The Doctor was not in the kitchen. Aranea took leave of the two humans, claiming that she was tired. Walking towards her room, she saw the Doctor leaning at the side of her door, his head downcast.

"So what did you find down there?" he asked quietly, "Or did you just fancy a suicide leap just now?"

Aranea drew out a small round glass globe from her robe; there should have been no room in her clothes to hide something that size, which was about as large as a grapefruit. Suspended within the clear glass was a small grey object, grey and unmarked. She handed it to him.

"If the glass broke, the entire TARDIS would freeze in a second," the Doctor said accusingly.

"It won't break," Aranea replied, "Not while I'm alive, anyway. Dispose of it later, if you wish. It's not meant to be here; it shouldn't be here for another billion years."

The Doctor nodded, turning the globe around in his hands.

"How did you manage to get close to it?" he asked, "It's got a forcefield that prevents any matter from sticking to it; besides, touch it and you freeze to death instantly."

"I have my ways," Aranea replied, "Sometimes you fight fire with fire. Or forcefields with forcefields, as the case may be."

The Doctor's eyebrow rose.

"You can generate forcefields?"

She nodded. He looked at the object again, and smiled briefly.

"Thank you," he said, lifting the globe up.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o00o0o0o0o0o0o

They finally reached the location and time of the distress signal. The planet was a small one, populated with a race derived from humans. The Doctor said that the race worshipped a vast pantheon of gods, much like the Hindus or the ancient Greeks and Romans. The civilisation had forgotten space flight, and lived in a mostly agricultural society, with small cities peppered throughout the two main continents of the planet.

They found themselves halfway up a tall hill; a city lay below them, cradled in bottom of a sloping valley. The houses were low and square, mostly made of clay or stone. At the other end of the valley rose a smaller hill, and perched atop that hill was a magnificent marble temple.

Jack looked at his wrist computer.

"Signal's coming from the temple," he said.

"Right then," the Doctor declared, "We're all pilgrims for the day. Let's go see the God of Time."

It took less than an hour for them to get into trouble. Once they emerged into the market, everyone had fallen on their faces at the sight of them. Two old men had come up to them, checked Rose's hair (who gave them an earful for tugging on her blonde locks), and knelt as well.

They announced that the Goddess of Time had arrived.

A few minutes later, Rose found herself sitting uncomfortably on a marble throne. Behind her was a large statue that could have been made in her image. Except the pupils were large globes of golden dust, whirling lazily around inside as sunlight struck them.

Only Aranea was there with her; the inner sanctum of the temple was closed to men, so Jack and the Doctor were escorted to a different room.

"What am I goddess of again?" Rose asked, once they were alone. The last two priestesses had bowed themselves slowly out of the sanctum once Rose assured them that she did not need anything else.

"Time," Aranea replied, "But that's not right. The deity of Time on this planet is supposed to be male. He's much like the twentieth century concept of Father Time. But along comes this mad poet…"

Aranea walked around the sanctum. On the walls were inscribed a poem, an epic paean to a Goddess who was all things. The Great Mother who gave all living things their first breath; the Swan, preserving order in a chaotic universe; the Bad Wolf, who devoured everything.

"This isn't right at all," Aranea whispered, "Where are all the other gods?"

"What need have we for other gods, when the Great Goddess provides all?"

The speaker strode in, smiling. He was taller than the other natives, and darker of skin. He was covered in religious ornaments, golden braces and armbands, anklets and necklaces. He carried a long crystal staff that rang each time he struck the ground with it. Aranea, looking at the staff, almost cried out in shock, but collected herself in time. The stranger, preoccupied with paying obeisance to Rose, did not notice.

"I am Rahenos," he said, getting up, "Your humble high priest, Goddess. The only male allowed into the inner sanctum."

"Hello," Rose said hesitantly, then plunged into a speech she had been preparing since she arrived, "Look, I know it sounds daft, but I'm not really your Goddess. I'm just -"

"Oh I know that, " Rahenos waved away her explanation," Although I have to say the resemblance is uncanny. Betrochius must have gotten something right."

He laughed, as Rose and Aranea looked at him in disbelief.

"Betrochius was the poet who wrote about the Goddess of Time," Aranea said, "But how did he get so popular? What happened to the other gods?"

"Ah," Rahenos pursed lips, "Betrochius did have some help in disseminating his, ah, vision. And the other gods have been destroyed. False images. Only reflections of the One True Goddess."

He grinned, as if sharing a big joke.

"But you don't believe that, do you?" Rose said, her eyes narrowing in suspicion.

"Perhaps I might be allowed to ask some questions," Rahenos said, "Where are you lot from, and where is your ship?"

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AN: Just about action time. I'm not really good at action, alas.


	8. Beneath the Facade

"Are all your needs met? You only have to ask, and we will provide it."

The silky voice was matched by an equally attractive body. The Second Priestess of the temple was a woman named Rahenon, dark of skin and hair. She was curvaceous and seemed strangely bold for a native.

Jack grinned at her suggestive tone.

"Well," he drawled, "There is something that I would like…"

He trailed off, looking at her intently. She tilted her head, watching him with her own brown eyes. Jack shifted closer and put an arm around her waist. She did not resist, but gave him an amused smile.

"And what would that something be, exactly?" she asked huskily, leaning in towards him.

Her hand was quick as a viper's, but Jack was even faster. He blocked her attempt to strike the back of his neck with a small needle, sending the diminutive weapon flying away. She backed away from him and drew a pair of small daggers from under her robes.

"It wasn't that," he grinned, "Aw, come on, am I such bad company?"

"Such a pity," she said, "I was going to drug you and keep you for myself. But Rahenos has ordered your death, so do be a nice boy and stand still while I cut your throat."

That made Jack laugh despite the very sharp daggers.

"I guess a date's out of the question, then," he quipped, "Well, it's been a blast, but I have to go find my friends now."

The fight was very short. Rahenon was fast, and the daggers very sharp, but Jack's training as a TIME agent included several thousand years of martial arts distilled into a very effective and efficient set of skills. As she lunged at him, he stepped aside and parried her stabs with his forearms. Grabbing one of her arms as it went past, he pulled her off-balance and gave a very precise chop to the base of her neck. Rahenon went out like a light. Ever the gentleman, Jack laid her out on the long chair, though he did pocket the daggers and the needle.

As he slipped out of the room, a pair of guards were walking up the corridor. Jack guessed they were not natives either; the blasters tucked into their belts were a dead giveaway. They looked at him for a moment. He grinned, gave a brief salute, turned and ran.

00o0o0o00o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

"What the hell are you doing?" Rose said, her voice rising.

A pair of priestesses - dark of skin and hair like Rahenos - had entered and pulled Aranea towards a wall opposite the throne. A pair of manacles hung on chains attached to the wall, and Aranea's wrists were locked into them. One of them walked towards a section of a wall, pivoted it to reveal a small alcove and pulled out a crystal javelin.

"A hundred years ago, this was used to assassinate a despotic king," Rahenos said, as the priestess took his staff and handed him the javelin, "It was considered a holy object, and used for human sacrifices."

He hefted the javelin in his hand, and sighted along it, pointing it straight at Aranea.

"Of course, we don't do such barbaric things anymore," he went on, "Such a waste of lovely young flesh, besides. They're much more profitable to me alive and healthy."

"You've been posing as priests and doing what? Selling the young people off?" Rose shouted, irate, "To who? Rival countries?"

"Oh no," Rahenos said, "Off-planet. The religion of the Goddess has just about covered the entire planet. You won't believe how much money one of these apes can fetch."

"You wanker," Rose said coldly, rankling at the "ape" comment, "You're worse than pond scum. Any of these apes is worth ten of you."

Rahenos laughed, though he was no longer looking amused.

"Let's see if this will change your mind," he said.

He threw the javelin straight at Aranea. She was jolted back against the wall when the javelin hit her, but did not cry out. She only looked calmly at Rahenos, then her head drooped down, and her body hung loosely from the chains.

Rose screamed out, and ran forward, but Rahenos caught her and threw her to the floor. As she tried to get up, she found the staff pointed straight at her neck.

"I could crush your neck like a twig with this," he said, "Now that the demonstration is over, are you going to tell me how you got here?"

Rose glared up at him with tear-streaked eyes.

"Go to hell," she said.

"Fine," Rahenos replied, "Perhaps your other friends might be more cooperative - after I make a demonstration of you."

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Jack lost the guards in fairly short order, as he ran further into the centre of the temple. He remembered being told that the inner sanctum was forbidden to males; that suited him fine, as long as they stopped the guards from chasing him.

Time to find the others. He looked cautiously into every room he came across, but they were all empty. Finally he came to an impressive arched doorway, and the floor was definitely paved in a superior grade of marble than the corridor. He looked inside. Empty. Except…

He sprinted to the wall, his face pale in horror.

"Nya?" he whispered. The javelin must have gone right through her, but there was no blood. Her head was hung down, and Jack tenderly touched a lock of hair.

"Oh god, I'm so sorry," he said, his voice almost breaking, "I should have been here."

There was no time for grief, he realised. Rose and the Doctor would be in danger, and he could not afford to delay.

"I'll come back for you," he breathed into her hair, "And I'll get the bastards that did this to you."

He turned away and almost swallowed his tongue when a cool hand grabbed his wrist. He turned his head slowly to see Aranea's facing him with a smile.

"Where are you going, handsome?" she said, her voice shaky and weak.

"You're alive," Jack laughed out, "I thought… are you all right?"

His jubilation turned to concern when he saw Aranea's body shaking. Her other hand, still confined, melted and shrank for a moment, and formed back when she slipped it out of the manacle.

"I'll be all right," she assured him, "Just trying to assimilate the javelin."

"You can do that?" Jack asked incredulously, as he watched the javelin start to melt and layers of it peeled away towards her.

"Not for normal crystal, but this was a stroke of luck," Aranea said, "The javelin's actually a part of me. My puppet, to be exact."

"So, this is the source of the distress signal?" Jack checked his wrist computer.

"No, the puppet must have made it, used it, and had to abandon it," Aranea said, "The High Priest was carrying a staff made of the same crystal. I'm wondering how much of the puppet is left after all these."

The last of the javelin disappeared into sashes of white silk-like material, which melted and melded with Aranea's robes.

"Do you know where they took Rose?" Jack asked, the sense of urgency coming upon him again.

"Rahenus is going to use her to make the Doctor talk," Aranea said, "Where's the Doctor?"

"Don't know," Jack said, "We got separated when the Second Priestess wanted a chat with me."

"Let's go find them then."

As they walked out of the sanctum, Jack grinned at Aranea.

"Do you really think I'm handsome?"

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AN: I promise, this is actually going somewhere….


	9. Breaking Out

"What do you mean, he broke out?"

Rahenos was hauling one of the guards up by his neck, choking him. There was an empty cell where the Doctor was supposed to be.

They were underground, inside the hill that the temple was built on. Rose looked at the prison cells that lined this floor, filled with confused young men and women. They had thought that they had been chosen by the Goddess to serve Her; instead they had been loaded up like baggage and locked into tiny cells. And later they would be driven into a spaceship and taken off-planet, to be sold as slaves.

The high priest dropped the guard, who fell to his knees, coughing and gasping.

"No matter," Rahenos said, "There's nowhere he can run to. The entire floor is locked tight. Come along."

He gestured and the two priestesses prodded Rose to follow. Reluctantly, Rose trailed behind Rahenos, who walked out of the prison cells and to a smaller room that looked like an office. It was equipped with a large table, and a few chairs, and the walls were adorned with strange pieces of artwork. Rose looked at a tall glass statue standing in one corner. It looked familiar.

"Like it?" Rahenos grinned, "My favourite piece. Didn't cost me a cent, but she killed off more than a hundred of my men before I subdued her."

Rose stared at the man.

"You mean, she was alive?"

"Oh yes," Rahenos nodded, "The White Wraith. A legend. She killed tyrants and despots. Not very communicative, but she was very useful, in her limited way."

Rose looked closer at the statue. It looked just like Aranea.

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"Dead end."

Aranea was ready to turn around, but Jack stopped her.

"Not quite," he said, checking his wrist computer, "It's a fake wall."

They found a panel that activated the wall. It slid back, revealing a staircase going downwards.

"Now we're talking," Jack said.

The two guards at the bottom of the stair fell silently; Jack delivered a straight punch to one, and Aranea grabbed the head of the other one and rammed him against the wall.

The corridor extended in both directions.

"Which way?" Jack asked.

"Let's split up," Aranea decided, "You can track any of us, and I can detect Rahenos' staff when I get close enough."

Jack nodded.

"See you in hell," he said, grinning at her.

Remembering the first time she heard that phrase from him, Aranea smiled.

0o0o00o00o0o0o0o0o0o0o0oo0

"Now, then" Rahenos sat down and smiled at Rose, "Are you going to tell me where your ship is? Or shall I have to kill someone else to get you to talk?"

Rose walked over to the statue, tears threatening to fall again. She turned and glared at the high priest.

"Why don't you go ahead and kill me too?" she said, "I'm not gonna talk and I hope you rot in hell for what you did to Aranea."

A guard came through the door and whispered to Rahenos. The high priest grinned smugly.

"We've found your vessel," he said, "A little blue box in the hills. Quite interesting."

He waved the guard out of the room, and stood up, drawing a small blaster from under the table.

"Perhaps I don't need you after all, my dear Goddess," he said, "You have two options. Talk, and I'll sell you as a harem girl, or prostitute. It'll be a comfortable life, either way. Don't talk…"

He turned the blaster on and it whined to life.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o00o0o0o0o0o0o0o00o0

Aranea could feel the staff. It had to be within 500 feet of her. A few steps more, and she could sense the puppet as well. It was immobile, but still capable of sending out the distress signal.

"Stay where you are!"

A guard raised a blaster at her. Aranea, still running, reached out a hand and raised a forcefield just as he fired. The laser dissipated across the curved surface of her forcefield. She spread the field all around herself and took off the ground, skimming over it as the forcefield negated gravity as well. The guard kept firing at her until she rammed into him with her forcefield, knocking him out.

Floating like a ghost, her hair and robes suspended in the air, Aranea flew onwards.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Jack ducked into a closet when he heard footsteps. As they passed, he opened the door carefully and reached out to knock the person out. His hands were almost on his target when he realised that the person was wearing a very familiar leather jacket.

"Doc?" Jack asked.

The Doctor swivelled around with an arm outstretched, and Jack had to lean back to avoid getting hit.

"Don't sneak up on me like that!" the Doctor admonished, "I could have brained you."

"Not bloody likely," Jack laughed, "You've got good reach, but you're way too slow."

The Doctor gave the Captain a sour look.

"What're you doing here then?" the Doctor asked, "Weren't you getting entertained by that priestess woman?"

"Yeah, but then she tried to stick a needle and two sharp daggers into me, I can't imagine why," Jack shrugged, "Maybe it was something I said."

"I'll bet," the Doctor replied, slightly amused, "Well, enough chin-wagging. Let's go find Rose and Aranea and get out of here, pronto."

"Why the hurry?" Jack asked, trotting to keep up with the Doctor's long-legged gait. He checked for Aranea's location on his wrist computer, hoping that she had found Rose.

"Because I've just set the self-destruct sequence on a spaceship below us," the Doctor answered, with a grin and a wave of his sonic screwdriver.

The two men grinned at each other, and broke into a run.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

"No."

Rose said, and braced herself for the shot.

"Pity. You would have brought in a small fortune as a concubine to some of my more exotic clients," Rahenos said.

The statue stumbled off its pedestal and wrapped its arm around Rose, just as Rahenos fired. The laser hit a forcefield about two feet in front of Rose, who stared in shock at the statue.

"You will not hurt her," the statue said mechanically.

"How did you start moving again?" Rahenos asked, firing off another few more shots before his blaster ran out of power, "Damn! Guards!"

"Don't worry," the statue whispered to Rose," I'm on my way, Rose."

"Aranea?" Rose said in a small voice. She thought the half-human was dead.

"I'm all right," the statue's face creased in a smile, "Stick close to the puppet. She won't let anyone through."

Rose laughed out of relief, and jumped when laser fire started up again.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o00o0o

Aranea could sense the puppet. Through its eyes, she could see Rose, and Rahenos. The high priest was levelling a blaster at Rose…

Aranea fell heavily to the ground as she made the puppet move. She could only set up one forcefield at a time. There was no time to consider other options.

A group of guards pursuing her surrounded her as she fell, and Aranea raised her arms. She concentrated on the statue. The forcefield had to hold, or Rose would die.

"Get up!" One of the guards shouted, kicking her in the stomach.

Slowly Aranea got to her feet, leaning heavily against the wall. Despite her assurances to Rose, Aranea was not sure how long she could maintain the forcefield under constant fire.

"Guards! Where the hell are you lot?"

Rahenos could be heard shouting just down the corridor. The guards ran to answer the summons, leaving one to watch Aranea. He held his blaster to her forehead, nervously.

"Don't try anything," he growled, "Or I'll just shoot you right between the eyes."

Aranea did not answer; she was too busy holding the forcefield up in the office.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o000o0ooo0o0o0oo0o0o0o0

Jack and the Doctor rounded the corner and saw Aranea braced against the wall, and a guard holding a blaster to her head. Jack sprinted up and before the guard could turn fully, barrelled into him and knocked him down. The Captain grabbed the blaster and punched the guard in the jaw with the handle.

Aranea was slowly sliding down the wall, exhausted. The Doctor held her up with one arm.

"What's wrong? Where's Rose?" the Doctor asked.

"In there…" Aranea whispered, pointing in the direction the other guards went, "Guards….with guns. 'm holding her…but can't…"

She stopped, closing her eyes tightly. The guards were running out of blasters, but she was running out of energy as well. It was going to be a contest of stamina.

"You can't protect Rose much longer?" the Time Lord finished for her. She nodded wearily.

"Right."

The Doctor lowered Aranea slowly to the ground, and gestured to Jack.

"We'll double back and pick her up," the Doctor said, "Got to get Rose away first."

Jack did not look happy with the decision, but nodded. They sprinted down the corridor.

"Got a plan?" Jack asked.

"No." The Doctor admitted.

"Great."

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

"Give it up, you can't hold on much longer."

Rahenos stood behind his table, arms folded.

"I shot you down once, I can do it again," he said, "There's only so much firepower you can absorb."

The fire was almost constant as guards shot at the forcefield. The sphere began to shrink, moving closer and closer to Rose and the puppet. As the blasters ran out of power, more guards came in with fresh ones. The forcefield was only half a foot away from Rose now, and she could feel the heat of the lasers seeping through. She looked worriedly at the statue.

0o0o0o0o0o0o00ooo0o0o00o0oo0o0o0o0o0

"Can you power this up?"

Jack handed a blaster battery to the Doctor, who grabbed it and applied his sonic screwdriver to it.

"Flash grenade?" the Doctor said, as the battery started charging.

Jack grinned and shook his head in defeat.

"Can't get much past you, can I?" he said.

"Not much," the Doctor replied, "Don't let me stop you trying, though."

Jack pulled out a small tool from his wrist computer and fiddled quickly with the battery. With a bit of modification, he turned the battery into a one-charge light grenade, that would blind anyone within a ten foot radius.

The office was just ahead; no one noticed them as they were too busy watching the interior of the office. The two men could hear the firing of blasters inside.

"Heads up!" Jack called out and lobbed the grenade. Both men threw themselves flat on the floor, to avoid any fire and also shield themselves from the grenade's blast.

The flash filled the office and corridor with light for a moment. The guards cried out in pain as the flash seared their retinas. Jack and the Doctor got up and ran into the office. Rahenos was inside, firing wildly. Jack threw a dagger and it hit Rahenos in the shoulder, throwing him backwards. The high priest lost his blaster as he stumbled back against the table and the edge of the table jogged his arm.

"Nice shot," the Doctor said.

Jack looked rueful.

"I was aiming for his eye," Jack admitted, and when the Doctor gave him a slightly scandalised look, "He hurt Nya, and made Rose watch."

The Doctor gave Jack one of his piercing looks, which was interrupted by Rose shouting at him.

"What took you two so long?" Rose cried out, "Aranea's just about done in!"

The statue was wobbling a little, and Rose was holding her up. The Doctor rushed forward to look at Rose, and was relieved to find that she was unhurt, although the tear-streaks on her face made his face go bleak.

"I'm all right," Rose said, "Just help me hold on to Nya."

He helped support the statue and they walked out of the office. Jack brought up the rear, paused and went behind the table. He leaned down and pulled the dagger out of Rahenos' shoulder, making the man scream in pain. The scream abruptly stopped when the high priest felt the dagger press into his neck.

"If you try to hurt any of my friends again," Jack whispered in a low, deadly voice, "I will make you wish I had just slit your throat right now. Got that?"

Rahenos nodded. Satisfied, Jack walked off to join the others, stepping over groaning guards who were holding hands to their eyes.

Aranea was already lying prone on the floor when they got to her, and the statue awkwardly knelt down before her.

"Lady," the statue said.

Aranea opened her eyes and looked up.

"You killed people," Aranea whispered, "Why?"

The statue paused for a moment.

"Necessity." She answered.

Aranea sighed. Was there really a part of her that was willing to kill, over and again, to achieve her objectives? She reached out a hand to touch the puppet.

"Your job is done," she said to the puppet," I will finish the rest."

The statue nodded, and began to peel and unfold as the crystal javelin did, each layer flowing towards Aranea and melting into her. Within minutes, only Aranea was there.

"Wow." Rose breathed.

Aranea got up, feeling more complete than she had in centuries.

"Time to go," the Doctor said, "We've only got ten more minutes."

"No, wait," Rose pulled him back, "Rahenos said he found the TARDIS. I think they brought it here."

Jack cursed and checked his wrist computer. Rose was right; the TARDIS was in the temple. He looked to the Doctor.

"Well, let's go find it then," the Doctor said matter-of-factly.

0o0o0o0o0o0oo0o0o00o0oooo0o0o0o0o0

AN: Ok, wanted to finish this, but it's getting late. Maybe in a couple more days….


	10. Something Ends, Something Begins

Following Jack's wrist computer, they ran upstairs into the temple building. They found the TARDIS in the sanctum, a group of priestesses around it. A small machine hummed near the TARDIS, which seemed to be covered with a field of some kind that crackled and drew something out of the TARDIS.

The priestesses prostrated themselves when Rose entered. Taking the opportunity, Rose told them all to get up.

"Tell everyone to get out and as far from the temple as possible!" she ordered, "Get everyone out!"

They stared at her in shock. Annoyed, she clapped her hands once.

"Oi! Pay attention!" She snapped, "Get going!"

They dispersed untidily, almost tripping over in their haste.

The Doctor was already looking at the small machine, frowning.

"What is it?" Rose came up to him, and clasped his hand. A few minutes ago, she thought she would never get to do that again.

"A null field generator," he replied, "They set it up to drain the TARDIS so that they can get in."

"So turn it off."

"Can't," the Doctor shook his head, "The feedback'll fry the TARDIS' circuits. We'd be stuck here."

Jack and the Doctor knelt by the machine, carefully removing its casing. They looked at the innards for a moment, conferring softly. As the Doctor started doing something with his sonic screwdriver, Aranea scouted outside the room. A few of the guards were coming up; she quickly ducked back into the sanctum and closed the large doors. She passed her hand over the two doors in a zig-zag pattern, leaving behind a trail of crystal that helped seal the doors shut. The doors shook as the guards tried to break it down.

"We don't have much time," Aranea reminded the two men, kneeling down to look at what they were doing.

The Doctor was trying to slowly reverse the null field, at least enough that negating it would not make the energy it was draining flow back fast enough to damage the TARDIS.

"Done!" He said triumphantly, and stood up.

The null field wavered for a moment, and the energy flow seemed to weaken. With a flourish, Jack used the empty blaster to hit the generator. The field disappeared, and they rushed into the TARDIS.

"Hang on!" the Doctor said, pulling a few levers. They fell to the floor as the TARDIS lurched and tossed. Finally it stopped and they picked themselves up.

"Where are we?"

"Back on the hill. I want to see this," the Doctor said, opening the TARDIS door.

It was not much of an explosion, truth be told. There was a muffled boom, then the hill began to collapse on itself, the temple cracking apart and toppling. They could see that the natives were clear of the hill, and were also watching the destruction of the temple.

"That's the end of the slave trade," the Doctor remarked with satisfaction.

They began walking back to the TARDIS, but Aranea lagged behind. As they reached the door, she stopped. Jack turned around, concerned.

"You all right, Nya?" he asked.

"I…" she hesitated, "I want to stay here."

00o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0oo0o0o000ooo0

There were arguments and exasperation on both sides. Jack seemed most worked up, almost pleading for Aranea to come with them. She could not; having absorbed the memories of the puppet, she could see that the planet was very much off-course.

"If Sigius Severn is to be born, the planet has to accelerate," she said, "They'll have to re-learn so many things; industrialisation, data storage, space flight. I'll have to stay here and make sure no more aliens come along and interrupt them."

Finally, they made an appointment. The TARDIS, drained of power, would have to be re-charged. They would come back in five hundred years' time, and pick Aranea up again.

Jack hung back as goodbyes were said; when Rose and the Doctor went into the TARDIS, he came forward and pulled Aranea into an embrace.

"I don't know why, but I can't bear to leave you," he whispered.

"You'll get over it," she half-joked, smiling into his shoulder.

Jack laughed a little, stroking Aranea's long black hair.

"Why don't I-" he started, but Aranea stepped away from him abruptly.

"Don't say it," she said, "Don't offer to stay. You belong with the TARDIS. With them."

"But-"

"No, Jack," she said, even more gently, "Why grow old and die here, on this one planet? Don't say it, please. I won't be able to say no if you do."

His smile was both rueful and a little self-satisfied.

"Glad to know the charm's still there," he said, "And here I was thinking you were unassailable."

He pulled her close again.

"You take care of yourself, you hear?" he whispered, "I definitely want to see you again."

She nodded.

Aranea watched the TARDIS wail into nothingness, then turned and descended the hill. There was a lot of work to do here. Her puppet, unable to see the options, assassinated rulers who kept back progress or oppressed the people too much. There had to be a better way to do this.

Five hundred years would pass in a flash, she was sure. Aranea smiled. She'd see them again.

0o0o0o0o0ooo0000ooo0o0o0o0o0o0

"Where are we going to re-fuel?" Jack asked.

"Cardiff," the Doctor replied, "There's a sealed rift there. We can use the energy that the scar emits."

"You'd better make it as close to 2006 as possible," Rose said, "We're almost out of food, we're definitely out of milk, and I want Mickey to get some stuff for me from home."

"Old Ricky boy?" the Doctor said in distaste, "What'd you need him for?"

"After all that, I think I'll feel safer with a passport," Rose replied, "At least next time I get mistaken for a goddess, I can always whip it out and prove that I'm merely mortal."

"You don't need a passport, you've got me!" the Doctor said indignantly, then quickly added, "And the TARDIS."

Jack chuckled at the Doctor's slip. They had to be talking about Mickey Smith, which the psychic paper revealed to him as Rose's boyfriend when they first met. Still, he couldn't be much a boyfriend, for Rose to think of herself as "very available".

His thoughts turned back to Aranea again. Maybe a gift…?

"Hey, Doctor?" he called out.

"Wha'?" the Doctor said, distracted by the screen display.

"Can we make a detour after re-fuelling?" Jack asked, hesitantly, "There's something I want to pick up."

"You too?" the Doctor looked at him in mild disapproval.

"It's a present!" he said defensively, "There's this really great tailor, right at the beginning of the Ashikaga Shogunate, who can do beautiful kimonos. I think Aranea might like one."

The Doctor gave Jack a long gaze. Then he smiled. For the first time, Jack felt that the smile had some genuine affection behind it.

"Why not?" he said, "Japan in 1336, very exciting times."

"But first," the Doctor started pulling levers and pressing buttons, "Onwards to Cardiff!"

0o0o0o0ooo0o000o0oo0o0

AN: Phew! Finally got over this section! There are probably a couple of intermissions coming up, to move the story along, since it'll be the episodes coming up after this, namely the last three.


	11. Triptych I : After Boomtown

Intermission: Kyoto 1336

"Quick, round this way!"

Jack gestured and stopped just long enough to make sure Rose and the Doctor got ahead of him around the sharp corner. Too closely behind, a group of men were in hot pursuit; by their garb and the swords thrust into their belts, anyone in Kyoto could tell they were no ordinary city folk but the Shogun's personal guards. Though there were a few people still on the streets at this hour of the night, none dared to stand in the way of the Shogun's men.

"Not friends of yours, I gather?" Rose asked, breathless as they sprinted down narrow alleys, past low stone walls and paper-and-wood houses.

"Not anymore," the Doctor replied, "In here!"

He had found a courtyard door ajar and shoved the two humans in before entering himself. He shut the door and the three crouched behind the low wall, listening tensely for the guards.

"Takauji doesn't like foreigners, especially when they botch his negotiations for some very attractive war weapons to kill the emperor with," the Doctor explained in a low whisper.

"Who's Takauji?" Rose asked.

"Why'd you botch the negotiations?" Jack asked.

"Ashikaga Takauji. The Shogun. You're hitting the history books when we get back to the TARDIS," the Doctor chided Rose, then turned to Jack, "One of those machines would have wiped Japan off the map, not to mention crack the tectonic plates apart like so much eggshell."

"Aliens?" breathed Jack, as the sound of the footsteps grew louder.

The Doctor nodded. The footsteps grew louder yet, the sound of angry voices, and after an eternity, they receded. The three sighed in relief.

"Who are you? What are you doing in my front yard?"

A rotund woman stood at the front door of the house, brandishing a wicked looking cleaver. She took in their strangely coloured hair, their pale skin. And screamed.

"Out, out!"

The Doctor opened the door and ushered the other two out. By the sound of it, the guards had doubled back as well, hearing the screams. Jack led the way, turning corners and down alleys until Rose was entirely turned around. She had no idea where they were, and where they were going. Fortunately, Jack seemed pretty sure of their direction.

Miraculously, or so it seemed to Rose, they turned into a small alley and the TARDIS was there, waiting. They piled into the blue box, just as the guards turned the corner.

Gendai had been one of the samurai despatched to negotiate with the _gaijin_ for the purchase of weapons that they could have used against the false emperor who had fled to the South. And this _ika_, Doctor, as he called himself, had ruined everything.

And here was the damned blue box again, that the Doctor had hidden himself into the last time.

Knowing it was useless, Gendai drew his wakizashi - the alley was too narrow for his katana - and slashed at the box. As he glumly expected, not a scratch marred the demon box, but his wakizashi was blunted. With a curse, he aimed a kick at the box.

Just as the TARDIS was dematerialising.

The other guards had retreated to the mouth of the alley when the TARDIS lit up, and were torn between horror, shock and mirth when they saw their boss fall flat on his back, after trying to kick something that was no longer there.

Gendai got up, rubbing his…hip. He hated that blue box.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0oo0o0o0

The kimono, to Jack's relief, was undamaged. He rushed off to Aranea's room to hang it up, as a surprise when she returned. It was light in colour, befitting a younger woman, and adorned with literally thousands of small butterflies of all colours that flocked together at the bottom of the kimono, but grew more sparse further up, until only a handful of brightly coloured wings decorated the shoulders and front.

He came back to see Rose laughing until he could no longer see her eyes. The Doctor had been telling her about his last encounter with Gendai, and why the samurai loathed the TARDIS so much.

"-finally, he ran right through the TARDIS, just as the old girl was dematerialising," the Doctor was saying, "barrelled right into a noblewoman's palanquin at the other end of the street. You should have heard her! She could have given your mom a run for her money!"

Rose gave the Doctor a mock glare, but the laughter bubbled through again quickly. Still floating on adrenaline, and almost giddy with relief that the kimono was all right, Jack joined in.

0o00o0o0ooo00o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

The Doctor remembered that even though Jack had been standing right next to her, and he had been several feet away, it was towards him, and not Jack, that Rose reached out when the light came through the walls. As the light devoured everything - walls, console, column, Jack - he still saw clearly Rose's face, frightened and desperate. And her hand, reaching out for him.

00o0o0o0o0o0oo0o0o00o0o0oo0o0o0


	12. Triptych II: The Appointed Time

Triptych II : The Appointed Time

Aranea lay on the grass, looking up at the clouded sky. The entire valley had been designated as a historical heritage site decades ago, ever since archaeologists found the ruins of the temple to the Goddess of Time.

The planet was called Choron, the people Choronen. They ventured into the stars two hundred years ago, and had made first (official) contact with other races about fifty years after that. Not bad for a race that had been tilling fields manually only five hundred years ago.

The Severn family were a religiously devout, upper-middle-class family. Egreon Severn, the stern patriarch of the family, had been a minister in the Choron Senate; his eldest son, Verpius, was a renowned journalist. Aranea had seen the birth of Verpius' second child, Sigius, only days ago. The Choronen had a place in the Coalition of Galaxies, a place acquired less than two decades back. Now Choron was a thriving trade planet, and due to its agreeable weather, a prime tourist spot as well.

There had been bloody wars, more aliens attempting to invade, and various complications that made Aranea almost lose hope in the past five hundred years. That was all past now, and something in her unwound and relaxed when she saw the tiny baby being wheeled into the nursery. Sigius Severn, Premier of the Coalition in fifty years' time. He would tear down the puppets and lackeys that the crime organisations had placed in the Coalition; replace them with real people who cared about whether their planets thrived or sunk. And the Coalition would become strong.

The sun came out. On the other end of the valley, the archaeologists were taking a midday break; she could hear the canteen bell ringing. Only couple hours more, she estimated. Aranea sat up, feeling the grass beneath her hands. She would miss this place; for five hundred years it had been home. The White Wraith was an old myth now, with history and religious academics writing reams about whether she really existed, and why people found it necessary to create a story about an immortal woman who killed tyrannical rulers.

She had not killed anyone, of course. Not deliberately, at least.

Too soon, it seemed, the sun went down, and after a while the spotlights from the worksite opposite went dark too. Aranea felt mildly concerned. It was well past the appointed time.

The night breeze picked up suddenly, whipping her dress about. Aranea stood up, looking expectantly in the direction of the wind. A wailing sound faded in, echoing in the valley bowl; with a flashing of light, the blue box materialised. The door clicked and opened. Aranea walked in.

Rose stood on the gangway, her face full of misgiving. Aranea immediately felt something was wrong. Behind her another figure came forward and stood abreast of Rose. He was wearing a dark brown trenchcoat, tie and waistcoat, matching pants and trainers. He looked familiar….

"Doctor?" Aranea said hesitantly.

The Doctor grinned.

"That's a bit of a relief," he said in a clipped accent, "I was worried about how many lives I'd have gone through before your first meeting with us."

Rose looked at them in turn, baffled.

"Nya, you mean…you've seen the Doctor before?" Rose asked, "like he is now?"

"When I first met the Doctor, he looked just like this," Aranea answered, nodding towards him, "What happened? What went wrong?"

Rose and the Doctor fell silent. The feeling of wrongness grew.

"Did something happen on Earth?" Aranea asked.

She looked around.

"Where's Jack?"

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0oo00o0o00o00o0o0o0

It was not the first time she wished for tears. Aranea stood on the gangway, still and silent, when she was told. She could not even repeat to herself what Rose said, not even in her mind. There was only this blank void in her now, as she stared at the pair.

Rose came forward and hugged her. The younger woman was already crying; she looked as if she had cried too much already.

"I'm sorry, Nya," she whispered, "I'm so sorry. I wish…"

Aranea did not know what Rose wished, because she did not continue. In a daze, Aranea gently pushed herself out of the hug and walked to her room.

The kimono was there, hung out on a wooden rack that displayed the fabric in all its finery. It was beautiful. Aranea could not bring herself to even touch it. She curled up, her back against the wall opposite the kimono, staring at it.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o00o0o0ooo0o00o0

Hours - days? - later, Rose came by again, standing awkwardly at the door.

"You all right?" she asked.

Aranea did not answer.

"If you want anything…" Rose faded off, not knowing how to continue, "You can just tell me, all right?"

As Rose turned to leave, Aranea spoke.

"I want to go to the Gamestation," she said in a dead voice.

"What?"

"I want to go back to the Gamestation," Aranea repeated, standing up," I want to pick up Jack's body and…and….give him….a proper…."

Aranea had no tear ducts, but she had blood. Her human organs needed nutrients, and though her heart was not in the same place as it would be in a human body, she did have one. Her head had veins and arteries, to feed the blood to her brain.

As Rose looked on in shock, Aranea's face collapsed in grief, and blood flowed from her eyes.

00o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0oo0

"How long has it been?" Aranea asked.

The Doctor looked at his watch.

"About an hour after we left," he replied, "Best I can do. The distortion caused by the vortex makes pinpoint accuracy a little hard."

Aranea nodded.

"I'd like to do this alone, please," she said, taking up the large body bag the Doctor had scrounged up from somewhere. Probably the medlab, Rose guessed.

"We'll wait inside," Rose agreed, giving Aranea's hand a quick squeeze before letting go. She had not told the Doctor about the half-human's breakdown in her room earlier.

She was gone for almost an hour. Rose was a bit concerned, but did not want to go see if she was all right; she could be weeping next to Jack's body right now. The Doctor assured her that there was nothing - no one - alive in the station, and all the security lasers had been deactivated by the Daleks earlier. With her forcefield, Aranea would not have fallen down any elevator shafts or stairs, or hurt herself in any stupid ape fashion. Rose muttered something uncomplimentary in reply.

The door banged open, and Aranea stood there, her face for the first time since she rejoined them alive and spirited.

"He's not here!" she said, "Rose, Doctor; Jack's not here!"

They searched the entire Gamestation again, to be sure. Aranea had laid the bodies out in a more dignified manner; it was the only thing she could do for them here. The Doctor had stayed on Floor 500, walking around and staring at the floor.

"I think someone came and picked our dear Captain up," he finally said, when Aranea and Rose returned, exhausted from searching through 500 floors, although there had really only been several dozen bodies on Floor 0, and the defenders scattered between Floors 495 to Floor 499.

"Was Jack alive when they came?" Rose asked, her tone tentatively hopeful.

"Yes."

"How do you know?" Aranea asked.

"Look here."

They stared down at one of the piles of white dust on the ground, behind a panel of controls. It had been disturbed. One almost complete footprint was imprinted in the dust.

"There's no one alive to have made any footprints after the Daleks were eliminated," the Doctor said, "And looking at the size and degree of pressure of this imprint, it should have been made by some of Jack's size and weight."

"But who could have picked him up?" Rose asked, "Could we have come back in a later timeline, or… what?"

"No idea," the Doctor admitted cheerfully," But right now I don't really care. Jack's alive!"

They laughed and hugged, in this place of death, and ran for the TARDIS. They did not know where Jack was, but that was all right. They would find him.

He was alive.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0oo0o0o0o0o0o0

AN: Apologies for the delay. Will have to do this rather slowly, as I am in the homestretch for my dissertation. Hope you're enjoying this so far!


	13. Triptych III: Remember, Remember

Triptych III - Remember, Remember

Jack did not know if he was angry or bitter. The Doctor and Rose had left him behind. Why? And what had happened to the Daleks? He walked around the control room of Floor 500, looking at the piles of dust. Were they transmatted? Disintegrated?

The realisation of two things crept up on him as he walked, after the initial shock of hearing the TARDIS dematerialising wore off. The first: He had been dead. He remembered his last act of bravado, trying to buy the Doctor a few more seconds. Then, the bone-searing pain. And finally, nothing.

The second: The two missing years of his life, his memories, had been restored to him. Whatever block the Agency had placed, it was no longer there. He knew who Aranea was, how she was related to him.

"_My mother's name was Issuspetta-iilusbanti-Sissometisalapeth," Aranea said._

_  
"No chance it could have been Jo, or Mary, could it?" Rose said under her breath. Not softly enough, apparently, because Aranea smiled._

_  
"Issuspetta was her personal name" Aranea explained, "the rest of it was more of a…description."_

_Aranea's smile grew a little poignant._

"_Clytie - the Regent and my guardian when I was a child - told me my father's name was Roger MacKinley, and his pet name for my mother was Ispeth."_

_Three pairs of eyes swung to Jack._

"_What?" he asked, then it dawned on him, "Oh. Uh, no, sorry, the name doesn't ring a bell. But then diplomatic agents move in different circles from us field agents."_

_Aranea sighed._

_  
"My mother erased all traces of my father from the Citadel records after his death," she said, "I don't even know what he looks like. All that was left in the government records were his entries into Parliament Hall."_

Jack half-collapsed to the floor, sickened beyond belief. He almost missed the draft that built up around him, bringing up clouds of white dust. He turned around, hoping against hope that it was the TARDIS.

Instead of a tall blue box, what materialised was a large mirror set in a gilded frame. Jack stood up, his hands closing into tight fists. He knew what it was - and who was piloting it.

A woman emerged from the mirror, dressed in pure white. Her dress was much in the same style as Aranea's usual outfit. She was rather taller than Aranea, though, being almost the same height as Jack. Her face seemed older, harsher, lacking the delicate softness that made Aranea look both exotic and fragile.

"Hello, Jack," she said; her voice carried a slightly mechanical ring beneath the human intonation, "Are you hurt?"

"Oh, I'm fine," Jack snapped, "Just peachy. So glad you found time in your busy schedule to come visit, Empress."

If she was hurt by his vicious tone, she showed no sign of it.

"I take it that you're angry with me about something."

"No, whatever gave you that idea?" Jack laughed sarcastically, "Wait, there is just one thing that comes to mind."

Jack stopped smiling.

"How could you let our daughter do all your dirty work while you hid, Ispeth? What the hell were you thinking? Where were you when she was putting her life on the line? When she was growing up?"

Jack's face twisted into a mask of self-loathing.

"I almost slept with her," he said in a lower tone, "Our daughter, Ispeth. Do you have any idea how I feel right now?"

Ispeth looked at him, her face devoid of all expression except calm.

"Why did you do it?" Jack asked, his voice trembling. His whole body was shaking.

"Necessity," she replied, as if it was the most obvious thing.

She turned and walked back to the mirror.

"Come in, Jack," she said, "The Citadel will help you find the Doctor."

Jack wanted to say no; he could not bear the thought of being on the same planet as Ispeth right now, much less the same room. The woman he loved; now he could not think of anyone he loathed more. Except himself.

But there was only one way off this station, and if the Doctor and Rose thought he was dead, they would not be back.

Entering the Citadel, he felt a jolt of familiarity. It was like the TARDIS in many ways; it was bigger on the inside, by far, and the console room was always the one closest to the door. But the TARDIS was mostly mechanical, with a touch of something alive hidden under the console; the Citadel was the opposite. It was living crystal, and the only mechanical part of it was the console.

He had spent almost two years living in the Citadel; for a time, he had thought it was going to be his home for the rest of his life.

"As long as our love shall live," he thought to himself, laughing bitterly. So much for vows.

The control room was a large domed space, and the walls and ceiling shone with a soft white light. There was no console here, only a throne set on a stepped dais. Ispeth walked over to the throne, and held out her hand. The throne disappeared, slowly sinking into the ground. Another structure rose to take its place; the familiar console, with its buttons and large display screen. It was a little like the TARDIS console, except it curved into a horse-shoe shape, and a seat was placed on the inside of the horseshoe.

"You know how she works," Ispeth said, "I'll leave you to pilot her. I won't distress you with my presence, until you have found the Doctor and are ready to leave."

With that, she walked to a doorway that sealed after her. True to her word, Jack did not see her at all in the days that followed. He left the console only to eat and sleep, and to step outside to scan for signs of the TARDIS or the Doctor.

Twice he had collapsed at the console, exhausted; he found himself in his own bed upon waking, and assumed the Citadel had carried him there, using her puppet. Once he felt a cool hand on his cheek; dreaming of Aranea, he had called out. Waking up, he found himself alone.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0


	14. Trouble? Oh Yeah!

They kept travelling. What else could they do? While they did enjoy the sights and sounds of a thousand planets and a thousand time periods, Jack was always foremost on their minds. Aranea rigged up scanners and sensors that would detect his brain pattern, or his 51st century human physiognomy, or detect the wrist computer's signals.

The Doctor busied himself with fixing the TARDIS, sometimes cursing that Jack would have figured out how to fix something or other, usually a part with an incredibly complicated and long name. Rose sometimes had Irish coffee; she would wander into Jack's room from time to time, idly tidying up. Sometimes she would bump into Aranea there, and back away softly before they could make eye contact.

They saw a moon blow apart, as thousands of furry bipeds cheered and roared their appreciation for their president who had sponsored the event; swam with the dolphin-like inhabitants of Cobalt, who were powerful telekineticists, and built fantastic and surreal cities in electric blue oceans; dodged touts, streetwalkers and acrobats on Frexyissi, a 79th Century Las Vegas, except it covered half the surface of a planet the size of Neptune.

Every time one of them saw a figure like Jack's, they ran. Every time, they were disappointed.

0o0o0o0ooo0o0o00o0o0o0o0o0o00

They found a trace of a wrist computer, and full of hopes, landed on a small mining planet in the year 35,213. The planet, the Doctor explained as they were jolting to a full materialisation, had been assigned only a serial number, but the inhabitants - humans all - called it Dismal.

And dismal it was. The working conditions were horrendous, the atmosphere poisonously vile, the nearest inhabited neighbour was several trillion miles away. But the pay was just shy of astronomical, because what covered over 90 of Dismal's mantle was a highly radioactive rock. With a little processing, the rock made an extremely efficient rocket fuel for interstellar ships.

Upon landing, the Doctor frowned and stood in front of his display screen, arms folded. Rose, impatient to find Jack, asked what the problem was.

"Cybermen," he replied shortly, "They have a base here."

"You mean like that helmet thing in Van Statten's collection?" Rose recalled, "Are they very dangerous?"

"Almost as dangerous as the Daleks, and just as single-minded," the Time Lord replied glumly, "We'd best find out what they're doing here. Nothing good, I'd wager."

0o0o0o0o0o0o00o0o0oo0oo0

Aranea felt her heart sink when they found that the wrist computer was attached to a dead body, and it was with mixed feelings of relief and sympathy when they found the body. It was not Jack, but another TIME Agent.

The sympathy disappeared fairly rapidly when they activated the wrist computer and found the TIME Agent's last report.

He was Timothy R. Drayle, assigned to Dismal to stop the Cybermen, at all costs, from acquiring the planet. His time-ship had been destroyed a week after he arrived. The planet had been overrun by Cybermen then, although the high radiation slowed their invasion a great deal. Several human bases were still running, and the nearest planet, ESX4531CC (nicknamed Echo) was sending what reinforcements they could.

Drayle had a bold plan, inspired by one of the combat groups that fought along the border between human and Cybermen territories. By forcing one of the larger processing plants into an explosion, a chain reaction could occur on Dismal's surface, killing the Cybermen. And everyone else.

"He can't do that!" the Doctor exclaimed, "Humanity needs Dismal's fuel to get out of the galaxy. If they destroy the mantle, it'd take forever for you lot to scrape together enough fuel to hit the next galaxy!"

"Has he got the plan working already?" Rose asked in concern.

The voice report went on as they turned their attention back to the wrist computer.

"I've already given instructions to the guerrilla group on how to overload the plant. They will enter the plant, take it over, lock up any resisting staff, and flood the control room with radioactive rock to prevent humans or Cybermen from entering it and stopping the overload process. I've already made contact with a private cruiser that came by to refuel, and will be off the planet by the time the chain reaction starts. I intend to find another TIME Agent, or send a message to TIME Agency headquarters somehow. Report 3D-12, finished."

"So what happened?" Rose asked, "Why isn't he on the cruiser right now?"

The Doctor gave a smile that was devoid of all humour or mirth.

"Privateers are notoriously hard bargainers," he said, "I'd guess that our friend here couldn't come up with a price his potential chauffer was happy with."

"Nothing more we can do for him," Aranea said shortly, "Best we go and find this guerrilla group and stop them."

"Excellent idea. Back in the TARDIS, then. We'll jump straight in."

0o0oo0o0oo0o0o0o0o00o0oo0o0

The Doctor opened the door of the TARDIS and grinned at the three nervous men who were levelling guns at him.

"Hello there," he said cheerfully.

"Who are you and how did you get in here?" one of the men spoke. He was taller than the other two, with a thatch of brown hair that stuck out in all directions. Not unlike the Doctor's hair, only lighter.

"I'm the Doctor, and - may I just step out for a minute, thank you? - these are my companions."

The Time Lord pushed the TARDIS door a little wider and came out, allowing Rose and Aranea to emerge.

"Are you with Drayle?" the tall man asked, "Where is he? He said he'd be here and get us out."

"There's been a slight change of plan," the Doctor said smoothly, "Drayle's asked that you don't go ahead with the destruction of this plant. We've got other methods of destroying the Cybermen."

The tall man laughed, but entirely with mirth.

"Too late, Doctor," he replied, "switches been thrown and the control room's red hot now. We flooded it with rock."

"With what?" Rose asked.

"Rock, you know, the radioactive stuff," the man looked curiously at Rose, "You ain't from around here, are you?"

"No, I just dropped in for a look," Rose said half to herself, then smiled at the three men, "And I heard that you people were a friendly bunch. What's your name?"

The three seemed embarrassed that they were still pointing their guns at the Doctor, and slowly lowered them.

"Name's Petar," the tall man replied, "This is my partner, Aurelio. That's my cousin-brother, Meir. We've evacuated the place; the original staff have taken their buggies over to the next plant."

"That's very good of you, Petar," the Doctor beamed approvingly," Now what we need to do is secure the plant and try to turn off the self-destruct switches."

"Already said, can't be done," Meir piped up," The whole control room's hot right now. Stand in there for more'n fifteen seconds, and your brain'll ooze out your ears."

"Ah," the Doctor smiled at Meir, "I do believe I haven't introduced you formally to my companions yet."

The Doctor walked forward and took Meir's gun from him.

"That's Rose," the Doctor gestured to the young woman, "And this…"

Turning slightly, the Time Lord aimed and shot at Aranea. Already prepared for this, Aranea's forcefield came up and the bullet flattened and bounced off.

"…is Aranea," the Doctor handed the gun back to Meir, who with Aurelio and Petar stared slack-jawed at the half-human.

"A little showy, don't you think, Doctor?" Rose asked archly.

"Well, we're a little short of time right now, Rose," the Doctor said, a little defensively, "Right, we four shall go and secure the doors, jury-rig some traps and so forth. Rose, Aranea, you'll have to work on the switches. All right?"

He looked around, waiting for questions. None were forthcoming so he smiled again.

"Very good. Off we go then!"

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

"Here."

Aranea pinned a crystal teardrop on the Doctor's trenchcoat.

"What's that for?" he asked quizzically, lifting his lapel to look at it.

"Just in case I need to contact you," Aranea said, "I need to be in physical contact with someone to communicate telepathically, remember?"

The Doctor nodded, and with a salute of his sonic screwdriver, set off, three men in tow. Rose and Aranea walked in the opposite direction, towards the control room, set in three layers of transparent anti-radiation polymer.

"Why did Petar call Meir "cousin-brother"? Rose asked as they approached the large throw switches.

"Petar and Meir are Czenabians, and on their world, frequently baby girls are born as twins," Aranea explained, "So it's common in their culture for sisters to marry the same husband. Children of the two sisters aren't half-siblings, exactly, nor cousins. So they use the terms "cousin-brother" and "cousin-sister" to denote the exact relationship."

"Oh," Rose digested this piece of information; Aranea never ceased to be impressed by how quickly Rose could absorb and accept new information, even new social mores. She tried exotic (even wriggling) food with nary a wince, did not even blink at some of the strangest alien bodies (and what they did in public), and doggedly asked questions, unashamed to admit she did not know, because she wanted to learn.

It no longer seemed incongruous to think of this young woman from a drab little period of Earth's history as the same one who saved the Doctor, destroyed the Daleks, and stared without fear into the time-space vortex. It was all her.

"We'll communicate by thought," Aranea explained, "Countdown and then throw one switch. We have to wait a while between switches, otherwise the power supply gets overloaded."

"Do you know how much time we got?" Rose asked.

"Plenty," Aranea reassured her, "The alarm hasn't gone off, so nothing's redlining yet."

Right on cue, lights began flashing, and a loud siren sounded.

"Radiation levels in reactors 1, 2 and 3 reaching critical," a calm female voice announced, "Please siphon off excess radioactive material. Radiation levels in reactors…"

The two women looked at each other and grinned.

"Wait till I tell you!" Aranea shouted as she ran towards the control room. She opened the first set of doors, shut it. Her shield was already up, but barely skimmed the surface of her skin. It was difficult to keep it in place that way, but she would not be able to activate the doors, nor throw the switches if she had her usual sphere.

The last set of doors opened reluctantly and Aranea stared at the slightly glowing rocks that littered both sides of the control room. Aurelio, Petar and Meir had rigged some block and tackle system around some reinforced crates; they must have pulled the crates to force the contents out just as they were running out the last set of doors, in order not to get irradiated.

Aranea glanced at the displays as she approached the switches. They still had a bit of time; the reactors were only starting to go over their full capacity.

The first throw was successful. All the lights flickered as the first reactor started to shut down; it took a lot of power to move the radioactive rods within the reactor into a storage pit next to it.

The Doctor and the three men were checking the outside doors when they heard the sound of an approaching vehicle. The Cybermen were here.

"The locks are electronic, so we have to make sure that they're mechanically sealed as well," the Doctor explained as they made their way from the centre of the plant to the exits, "Otherwise when the last switch is thrown, it's possible that the power will trip and the doors come open. These plants weren't exactly made with maximum security in mind."

"We understand," Aurelio said, lifting up a large solder iron.

"Good lads," the Doctor grinned, "Off you go then, each of us will take a different direction."

The Doctor took the north, as there were two sets of doors there, one on the third floor. It was for people who landed on the helipad attached to the plant on the outside. As he used his sonic screwdriver to weld the door hinges into immobility, he saw the lights flicker. The switches were being thrown. He grinned and went back to work.

He had just finished the second hinge when the lights flickered and went out for a few seconds before coming back on. The second switch had been enough to interrupt the power supply. He heard a soft _click_ far above him.

"We have access," a monotonous voice said.

A door banged open.

_Uh-oh_, the Doctor thought.


	15. Not A Choice At All

Not A Choice

It was not a choice, she realised. No thought was involved, no weighing of priorities.

The three men had come running back, the Doctor bringing up the rear. They were struggling to close the massive doors. Aranea, attuned to the Doctor, saw through the crystal teardrop what was approaching. A team of Cybermen, weapons already raised. The Doctor was standing in the gap between the closing doors. The weapons were aimed, and she could almost see the trigger being pulled….

Time slowed, stopped. Her hand still on the last switch, Aranea looked at the frozen scene before her. The three men, pushing on the doors; Rose, her body mirroring Aranea's before the external switches; the Doctor, standing between the doors, sonic screwdriver ready, knowing it would be too late. Two images, superimposed; her own eyes' sight, and what the crystal showed her.

Aranea saw the golden light fall upon, felt its strange, alien warmth. She turned and saw - Rose. But not Rose. Golden light enveloped her, golden dust scattered in her eyes. Tears streaked her pale face, tears of pain, Aranea knew somehow. She had infinite power, infinite knowledge. And it hurt. How it hurt.

"I can't save him again," She said sadly, "He took it from me, and died. I can only watch him. Watch him die again."

"He won't," Aranea said.

"It's your choice, Aranea," She said, Her eyes fixed upon her, the golden dust dimming until she seemed almost merely human, "You don't have to."

"It's not a choice," Aranea said, reaching out a pale hand to touch a golden one.

"I will see you again, Aranea," She said, her voice already fading, "Once more, before the end. I promise."

Aranea turned back as the vision faded, the golden light, the golden warmth gone. And saw the Doctor's eyes on her, full of sadness and regret. _Time Lord_, Aranea thought fondly, _truly you don't know how blessed you are_.

Time came back, and paradoxically, she had no time now. Her forcefield winked out, and she heard the Cybermen's weapons fire, straight for the Doctor. And dissipate around the forcefield that now surrounded him. That split second was all that was needed to close the door and seal it with the sonic screwdriver. It would hold for a time.

Aranea sent an urgent thought to Rose at the same time _Now, Rose, now!_, pulling the last switch and running for the door. She called up her forcefield again, too late, she knew. But it was all right.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0oo0o0o0o0o0o0o0oo0o0o0o0o0o00o0o00

They had some pieces of gold jewellery, especially Aurelio who, true to his name, coughed up several gold coins he had saved up. Pulverised, turned to gold dust and pumped through the ventilation ducts, they heard the screams of the Cybermen even through the thick doors. After a safe interval, they opened the doors and found the remains, putrid green amidst the tarnished silver.

"Tell Echo what happened, and get the other plants to pool together their gold," The Doctor was instructing, "You can wipe the Cybermen out by luring them into the plants, if you play your cards right."

They had left, the Doctor, Rose and Aranea. The humans could finish the job now. Aranea stumbled into the console room, smiling wanly at Rose's concerned questions. In the medlab, the Doctor scanned her, his almost childlike face set into a grim mask as he viewed the results.

"It was shorter than fifteen seconds, couldn't have been too harmful, right?" Rose asked, desperation creeping in her voice, "Right? Doctor?"

The human had Aranea's hand in a death grip, tears only a word away.

"I'm sorry, Rose," the Doctor said, looking at Aranea.

"I know, it's all right," Aranea turned to Rose and smiled again. The pain was starting, the rot setting in.

"No, it's not all right!" Rose shouted, tears tumbling from hurt eyes, "You can't be dying! Nya, can't you…can't you… there's gotta be a way! The Doctor can fix you, can't he?"

"He can't, Rose," Aranea softly soothed, "My human organs are dead. The radiation went straight through my crystal body, and right now the only organ that's not almost dead is my brain, probably because I have several layers of organic cushioning around it."

Rose could only shake her head, incoherently denying what was right in front of her.

"Oh Rose," Aranea hugged her tightly, "Don't. Don't cry."

As the Doctor looked on, the sadness again in his eyes, Rose clung to Aranea, weeping. It was not all right after all.

00o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0oo0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

They stood awkwardly in the console room. Already Aranea was losing all colour as she lost control over her body, only her eyes remaining a brilliant blue. They would probably be the last thing to die, she realised. Her human eyes, twins to Jack's.

That was the only twinge of regret she felt. She would never see Jack again. Rose was holding the photographs they had taken one bright afternoon, when Aranea was persuaded to try on the kimono Jack had bought. In a rare moment of playfulness, Aranea leaned against the door way of the TARDIS, posing for Rose as she took pictures with a 32nd century camera, a small card-like apparatus that sent the images straight to a small printer which instantly produced the photographs.

"When you find Jack," Aranea said, "Could you show them the photographs?"

"Sure," Rose said with a forced casualness.

They hugged again, Rose frowning in order not to cry again. Aranea held on to her hand as she looked at the Doctor. There was nothing in the Doctor's face, nothing of grief, or regret. And she knew that was the most telling expression of all, for the Time Lord. The grief that was so great that he had to lock it behind walls of impassiveness.

"Doctor, one last gift," she said, "In thanks for letting me travel with you."

With the last bit of her will, she let go. Let go of what she could of her crystal body, enough to spawn a thousand butterflies, all pale white, fluttering, filling the dome of the console room.

"I used to have butterflies," the Doctor whispered, looking up at the cloud of white.

"I remember," Aranea smiled, "I can't do the colours anymore though."

"They're beautiful, Aranea. You are beautiful."

In the glance they shared again that moment in the plant on Dismal, two who stood outside of time and yet still pulled along by its eddies and waves.

Gently she let go of Rose, walked to the doors. The Doctor had chosen a place for her, a large blank part of space; no stars, no planets, no asteroids. No one would disturb her here. She wanted to go before she lost entirely her ability to hold her shape together, and reverted to the spider body that was the original form of an Arachnid.

She pushed herself away from the doors, closing them with while giving herself momentum to move away from the TARDIS. She looked at the blue box, so forlorn in the empty space. As she must look to them as well. She gestured at them, knowing that they must be looking at her through the display screen, asking them mutely to go, now. She drifted further and further away from the TARDIS, watching the blue box grow smaller with distance. With a flashing of light, it was gone.

And She appeared, the gold filling Aranea's vision until it seemed to fill the blackness of space.

_Thank you._ She smiled at the dying half-human.

_No need_ Aranea answered in the silence of space.

_I can bring you back, restore your life._

_Why don't you?_ Aranea felt hope faintly growing in her.

_It is your choice. _

Knowledge filled her. Aranea had always felt the timelines as a background in her mind, a vast river in which she floated all her life. Now she was submerged in it, every detail crystal clear in her mind. The knowledge awed and horrified her, threatening to overwhelm her human mind.

She saw herself, her life like loops of thread which bound the timelines together, held them intact. Herself, the Citadel, her mother. And she understood, finally. She stretched her sight to the end of the line, watching how each of the thousand Arachnids became fully themselves, preserving the integrity of time against the avarice of those like the TIME agents.

_And all this won't be, if I remain alive._ Aranea closed her eyes, vainly trying to block out the vision.

_Only you will remain. _Rose/not Rose affirmed.

_Then it is not a choice at all._

_It is always a choice. For good or ill, for those unborn and those long dead, your choices have set them on their path. Every path you have taken, have saved some and doomed others. This is your gift and your burden, that you have always had the choice._

Aranea looked at Her, golden, brighter than suns.

_The choice is already made. _Aranea stretched out her hand to touch Her once again.

_A last gift for you. A moment of time. Tell him._

A touch of gold dust on her hand, sparkling like nothing she had ever seen. Aranea pressed it to her chest, felt her human form unravelling, turning back into the spider she was born as. She died, her blue eyes looking sightlessly out into empty space.

00o0o0oo0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

_Far beneath her a million stars_

Dead, or just asleep; she drifted. The stars burnt, hundreds of light years away. The Doctor had chosen well, her final resting place.

_Only emptiness surrounds her now_

The void was truly void. Even the brightest or nearest star systems were mere pinpricks of light. She did not know this. With the death of her human brain, so too had consciousness vanished. Only a crystal husk remained; soon, the last remnant of her humanness would decay and be abandoned.

_Nothing, no one. No sound._

The utter silence of space. She was blind, deaf, numb. Her crystal body slowly grew, as miniscule asteroids and space dust accumulated on her and were assimilated. What could not be assimilated simply fell away.

_Far away, he is waiting._

Somewhere within her, a flicker of consciousness remained. Only the slightest hint of a memory. A face. A smile. The scent of a human body. The touch of human fingers. A primeval awareness that predated thought. Hoarding that flicker to the very core of herself, her body grew around it. It pulsed. Her Heart.

_Her journey will take an eternity_

She does not note, nor care about the passing of time. For two billion years, she was snared by a planet and became a moon. For another three billion years, she followed a long and erratic orbit around twin stars. None of these mattered. She woke up, suddenly and painfully, finding herself hurtling towards a sun. She willed herself to safety - and found herself a thousand years in the future and half the galaxy away.

_But at its end, awakening._

She gave birth, nine hundred and ninety-nine times. Her children initially had only the rudimentary consciousness of insects, but they learnt. Eventually they became sentient, and curious, and learnt of other races from the signals they could detect in space. Her thousandth child, also her first child, for she conceived one bright daughter first, but did not release her until she was ready. That flicker of memory, jealously hidden away, she bestowed upon this one.

_Awareness, knowledge. Love_

Her children toppled a tyrant, freed a galaxy from slavery. Each took her own path, each went her own way. In their time, they would become like her. Except her first bright daughter, who would have a greater and sadder destiny.

_Is he not worth the fall?_

He walked in, hesitant, not knowing what to expect. Her daughter, still wary and distrusting, showed him the Heart. In time her daughter would remember. Remember that she loved him; that she gave up immortality for him. And that she would have his child, a child who would die and become in death the mother of her race. And so the story begins again.

She watches them dance, and remembers.

00o0o0oo0o0o0o0oo0o0o000o0o00o0

AN: I'm afraid this is my last update for at least two weeks. I'm desperately trying to finish my dissertation right now. Patience, friends, I will return anon!


	16. The Eyes Outlast A Little While

Flashback: The Eyes Outlast A Little While (T.S. Eliot)

Aranea had a bathroom attached to her bedroom, for her morning ablutions. Although she had no sweat or oil glands, dust and grime still accumulated on the surface of her skin. As she concentrated on turning on the taps and lathering up her hands with soap, Aranea did not look into the mirror until she was ready to wash her face.

"Doctor!"

The Doctor was just entering the kitchen when he heard Aranea call out to him, sounding very upset. Immediately he made his way to her room and saw her emerge, wiping her hands hurriedly on a handtowel.

"What's wrong, Nya?" he asked.

She looked up at him. And he realised what had startled her.

Her eyes were bright blue.

0o0o00o0o0oo000o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

The Doctor turned off his sonic screwdriver and leaned back, frowning in thought. Aranea blinked a few times; her eyes seemed less able to handle changes in light than before. In fact, they were _stinging_. They never used to sting before.

"You've got human eyes," he concluded.

"That's impossible," Aranea said, "I don't have any external human components. Not skin, nails, hair, eyes, or lips."

"Well, you do now," the Doctor said bluntly, "Those are human eyes you're looking out of."

Rose was standing on the other side of the chair, staring intently at Aranea's new eyes.

"They look kinda familiar," she murmured.

"Of course they look familiar," the Doctor said, pocketing his sonic screwdriver, "They're Jack's."

"What?" both women shouted at him.

He took a step back, wincing at the stereo shrillness.

"No need for dramatics," he said, looking slightly wounded, "Aranea's human DNA is identical to Jack's. Stands to reason that her human parts would be identical to his."

Aranea look back and forth between Rose and the Doctor, hoping this was some colossal joke they were playing on her.

"_How_ can my DNA be identical to Jack's? Unless…" she stopped as the implication sank in.

The Doctor nodded, knowing what she was thinking.

"But that can't be," Aranea said in a small voice, "My father's name was Roger MacKinley. He was a diplomatic TIME Agent. How can it be Jack?"

"The Agency could have sent him in under an assumed name," the Doctor said, "If his mission was to infiltrate and possibly even steal the Citadel, they would hardly reveal that Jack was a field agent, would they?"

"So they created a fake identity for Jack, and he became ambassador under the name of Roger MacKinley," Rose cut in, "And then he fell in love with Aranea's mom? I can't imagine Captain Jack Harkness settling down, to be honest."

The Doctor chuckled.

"Maybe he sleeps around because he knew somehow that he had something great, and lost it," he mused, "Maybe he only enjoys trouble when there's nothing else left."

The Doctor sounded as if he was quoting someone else with that comment, his eyes far away. Aranea brought her fingers up to her own eyes, pressing on her eyelids experimentally. Ouch. That hurt. They were definitely organic, then.

"But why now?" Aranea asked, "Why did they appear?"

"Hmm…" the Doctor paused, "Did anything happen recently, anything concerning your eyes? Anything traumatic, or unusual?"

Rose and Aranea exchanged guilty glances, which made the Time Lord raise his eyebrow.

"Something did happen," he said.

"Yes," Aranea whispered, "When I first heard about Jack's death, I went to my room…"

"When I checked in on her the next day," Rose continued, "I asked her if she wanted anything. She said she wanted to go to the Gamestation and pick up Jack's body."

"And my eyes started bleeding," Aranea finished, "I remember wanting to cry, so much. Just to weep. Shed tears. But I didn't have any tear ducts. My dearest friend dead, and I could not even cry for him."

"That must have triggered it then," the Doctor said, "Obviously your desire initiated changes to your physiognomy and _voilà_, human eyes!"

"But that doesn't explain why Aranea's DNA is identical to Jack's," Rose insisted, "unless he's really her father."

Aranea remained silent. The whole idea was too absurd, too insane, to contemplate seriously.

"Let's find Jack and then we can try to solve this mystery," the Doctor said, leaving the medlab, "until then, no reason to fret about it."

"No," Aranea agreed, "There's no reason."

No reason at all.

0o00o0o0o0o0ooo0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

She adopted a transparent visor that discreetly covered her eyes; otherwise when she activated her forcefield for any time, the dryness and weightlessness would distress them, making her weep. She had her wish now, to cry, and it seemed that sometimes she would cry even if she did not want to.

The visor helped screen her eyes from the radiation, and they were the last things to die when every human cell in her body began to decay. With the last fragment of her consciousness, she looked into deep space, the stars shining constantly before her. Even as her brain died, and Aranea's thoughts, memories and emotions vanished, her eyes remained open, shielded from the vacuum by her visor. She floated, reverted to her Arachnid shape, her blue eyes looking ever outwards.

0o0o0o0oo0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0oo0

AN: The title of this chapter is a quote from T.S. Eliot's poem, "Eyes That Last I Saw in Tears."

Eyes I shall not see unless  
At the door of death's other kingdom  
Where, as in this,  
The eyes outlast a little while  
A little while outlast the tears  
And hold us in derision.


	17. Reunion

_Captain Jack Harkness pilots a brilliant crystal spaceship that can trascend space and time. How like an epic adventure it sounds, and how much Captain Jack Harkness wished instead for a small blue box, instead of this glittering magnificence._

He tried several times and places, some at random, others after serious thought.

The random: Cobalt in 100,000, where all the cities were underwater; Raxacoricofallapotorius in 2021, watching Magaret emerge first in her class in infant school; Fennelirix, looking at twin suns set, and the sky literally caught fire.

The others: London, 2006, a drab council estate; Cardiff, two months later; then London again, and again. He tried Christmas and New Year, watching for a blue public call box anywhere near the block Rose's mother lived in.

Jack stopped trying London after spotting them on the roof of the council block. He was already running towards them when he saw the large spaceship fly past them and crash. It was too early; Rose had told him about this, after they sent Margaret back to Raxacoricofallapotorius. He watched them watch the spaceship crash, grin at each other, and race each other to the staircase.

He felt numb after that.

He dreamt of the TARDIS frequently. Mundane conversations held in the console room as he and the Doctor repaired the TARDIS, and Rose sat nearby, reading. Jack told them about his adventures as a TIME Agent and conman (it was surprising how similar both occupations were); Rose told him about what happened before he met them in 1941.

"_Cardiff was beautiful," Rose had said, "And we met Dickens! Charles Dickens!"_

_"And loads of undead," the Doctor had added._

"_Thanks, I was trying to forget about them," Rose deadpanned, "But it was amazing! The snow was the best bit, I think. I like snow. It hardly ever snows in London."_

He had woken up, thinking about snow in London.

He went back in time, sampling the coldest Christmases and New Years that London experienced in the last two hundred years. Nothing. Growing in desperation, he tried the future.

He looked through the Citadel records, scanning for anything that might tell him where the Doctor and Rose could be. One piece of information leapt out at him.

In the 24th century, weather control technology was perfected, with the use of micro-satellites that were positioned in the upper atmosphere. In 2424, as part of a month-long celebration in London that culminated on New Year's Eve, snow was ordered in copious amounts for London on Christmas Eve. Wind conditions were kept to a minimum in order to reduce the chill factor.

He landed in Hyde Park, where a huge masquerade ball was being held. Stepping out, he almost thought he had arrived in the wrong time. The first people he saw were dressed in Elizabethan finery, complete with huge lace collars, bone-white make-up for the women, and short Dutch cloaks to fend off the snow.

There was also a group of young men, hair matted, dressed in kilts and not much else. Jack wasted less than a minute admiring them - a record in brevity for him - before checking his wrist computer. He had been so inured to failure now that success almost horrified him. He was still for a moment, shocked. Then he broke into a dead sprint towards what the wrist computer had picked up. Two hearts. A Gallifreyan.

He almost reached the Serpentine when his wrist computer told him he should be almost on top of the Time Lord. Looking around, he saw people pedalling around on the Serpentine, but no one within range. Only one young man, leaning against a tree, his lean form almost hidden in its shadow.

The man stepped forward slowly, looking surprised to see Jack. He was wearing a dark brown trenchcoat.

Jack double-checked. The signal was coming from the man. He looked up, his face a mixture of puzzlement and despair. Not the Doctor, then. But another Time Lord? Wasn't the Doctor the last one?

"Jack?" the stranger asked in disbelief.

"Yes," Jack answered, too disappointed to turn on his charm, "Who are you?"

Instead of replying, the stranger laughed delightedly. There was something about that laugh that seemed familiar. Jack stared at him in wonder, an eerie feeling coming over him.

"Rose is going to be absolutely thrilled!" The stranger said, grinning, "The best Christmas present ever, since the bicycle! I should wrap you up, Jack. Maybe something in red…"

"What are you talking about?" Jack demanded, walking closer, "You know Rose? How is she? _Where _is she? Where's the Doctor?"

The stranger turned sombre.

"I think we should wait for Rose to get back before I explain," he replied.

"Rose is here?" Jack asked, boggling.

The stranger nodded his head towards Jack's left. Turning, he saw Rose walking towards them, dressed in an elegant Victorian styled gown. A dark wrap was tied about her shoulders and she held a fur muff to warm her hands.

"I leave you alone for two minutes, and you're already picking up…" Rose stopped in mid-sentence, staring, "Oh. Oh, my God."

Jack thought if he grinned any wider, his head would fall off. He drew Rose into a tight hug, exulting in the touch and sight and smell of her.

"I'm so glad to see you, Rose," Jack said, letting her go finally, "But where's the Doctor? And who's he?"

Jack pointed to the stranger, who had come up to Rose's side. Almost reflexively, Jack noticed, Rose grasped the stranger's hand. That eerie feeling crept over him again.

"Jack," Rose said gently, "He _is_ the Doctor."

"What? No way," Jack said weakly.

"I got killed on the Gamestation - sort of," the stranger - the Doctor? - replied, "And I regenerated. It's something that Time Lords can do to escape death. But we get a new body each time, no control over what we look like."

"So you never die?" Jack asked.

"Well, no," the Time Lord admitted, "There're only so many times I can do it. After that, we die just like anyone else."

Jack looked at the face of the stranger (nothing like the Doctor's, nothing) and then down at his hand, entwined in Rose's fingers. Obviously Rose believed him.

"I don't know…" Jack said slowly.

"How about this?" the Doctor said, "Remember the first time we met? London, 1941. Albion Hospital. You called me Mr. Spock."

"But Rose could have told you that."

"You're right," the Doctor's voice was a little sharp, "How about the last thing you said to me? Rose wasn't there - yet. No one was alive then, except you, me and -"

"The Daleks," Jack frowned at the memory, "All right, what did I say?"

Jack imagined that the Doctor's face grew more grim and lined. For a moment, he seemed older, and more like the Doctor he knew.

" 'For God's sake, Doctor, finish that thing and kill them all.'"

The two men stood staring at each other. Without warning, Jack lunged forward and hugged the Doctor fiercely. The Time Lord used his free hand to pat Jack on the back a few times. Rose looked on, her eyes prickling with unshed tears.

As they drew apart, grinning at each other, Rose noticed another figure standing a short distance away, watching. For a moment, Rose felt hope well in her heart.

"Aranea?" she asked.

Jack whirled around, a grin ready for his daughter; but the grin died when he saw who was actually standing there.

Ispeth looked at Rose and shook her head.

"That's not Aranea," Jack said, his voice tight with tension, "That's Ispeth, her mother."

"But Nya said -" Rose started.

"I was, " Ispeth's stilted voice cut in," For a few hundred years."

The Doctor stepped forward and smiled at the Arachnid.

"Hello, I'm the Doctor. Nice to meet you."

Ispeth nodded at him.

"I must leave," she said, "Please take care of Jack."

Rose looked at Ispeth's blank face and Jack's taut, angry one, wondering what had happened between the two of them.

"Why do you have to leave?" she asked.

"I am not at liberty to say," Ispeth replied, "Jack will explain."

"There is something I have to tell you about your daughter," the Doctor said.

"I know," Ispeth said, holding up a pale hand, "I felt it."

Jack, alarmed, turned to the Doctor.

"What's happened to Aranea?" he asked urgently.

Before the Doctor could reply, Ispeth came forward and pressed something into Jack's hand.

"Before you throw it away, this is not from me, but from the Citadel," she said, "You can call her to you, when you are ready to talk again."

Jack looked at the piece of crystal in his hand; it was shaped like a teardrop, though all its edges were rounded. He nodded and tucked it away in his jacket.

"Tell her thanks for me," he said in a low voice, "But I don't think I'll ever use it."

For the first time since they were reunited, Ispeth showed some emotion. She gave Jack a smile that was tinged with sadness.

"Treasure the time you will have, Jack," she whispered, "Not many people get a second chance. Sometimes, we don't even get a first one. Goodbye."

With nod to Rose and another to the Doctor, Ispeth turned and walked away. Her form was soon lost among the trees and the darkness.

0o0o0oo0o0o00o0o0oo0o0oo0o0o0o0

AN: Apologies for the month-long absence. Moving to another country and starting work less than a week later is pretty hectic. Now that things are more settled, I'll definitely want to wrap this baby up!


	18. The Past that is the Future

Rose had not expected that the news of Aranea's death would hit Jack so hard. He had already looked exhausted and drawn as they entered the TARDIS; he almost collapsed when he was told what had happened on Dismal. For two days, Jack locked himself in Aranea's room. Rose wanted to break in and see if he was all right, but the Doctor counselled patience.

On the morning of the third day, Jack emerged, washed and changed. He asked Rose and the Doctor to meet him in the library. They found him seated where Aranea used to sit, turning the crystal teardrop Ispeth had given him over and over in his hands. The bright crystal caught the firelight from the hearth, sending rainbow streaks of light randomly across the library.

"I remember what happened in those two years," he said to them once they sat down, "Apparently, dying eliminated whatever block the TIME Agency put in my brain."

He had been sent to the far, far future. The year 10 billion, where the final incarnation of the Coalition of Galaxies was a loose group of empires which collectively spanned half the universe. The TIME Agency had an unusual assignment for him. Field agents and diplomatic agents had very different portfolios, different skills and different areas where they were put to work. Jack's job was a mix of both; he had to become an interim ambassador to the Crystal Empire, with a covert mission of infiltrating the top level of the Imperial government and locating the Citadel, the fortress that the Empress resided in. Its exact location was unknown, and seven agents had been sent in without success.

Jack also had retrieve all information possible on the Empress herself, and the Arachnid Race, who was said to originate from within the Crystal Empire and were supposed to be immortal. Naturally, the TIME Agency was interested in this claim of immortality.

"It was a tall order," Jack chuckled, "So they had to send the best."

Jack was given a new identity and a history befitting an ambassador. He was presented to the Empress and her Premier, and his first sight of the Empress entranced him. Jack knew he was a born flirt, and pursued humans and aliens, male and female, with the same cheerful relentlessness. But the Empress impressed him, not as a target, but as a person in her own right. There was something utterly unfathomable about her.

Jack had been the first ambassador to be received in the Hall of Mirrors, a strange large room in the centre of the Parliament Building decorated entirely with different types of mirrors. He had been given the name of Robert McKinley. When the Premier left the Hall, the Empress addressed Jack by his real name.

_"I hope you will like it here, Captain Jack Harkness," the Empress said calmly._

_A chill ran down his spine, even as he gave a slightly puzzled smile._

_"I'm sorry?" he said, "did the embassy send the wrong package, Your Majesty?"_

_She waved a hand at the console that floated on her left. A hologram of his face appeared above the console and data streamed by next to the face. It was backwards and small, but Jack could make out the gist of the information. It was the right package._

_"Yes, the records say that you are Robert McKinley," the Empress replied, "But I do hate the use of false names. Besides, Jack suits you much better than Robert. Or even Bob."_

_Jack had laughed, a little self-consciously._

He came to the Parliament Building every day, ostensibly to learn about the Crystal Empire's workings and network with the government officials. He found his way into the Hall of Mirrors, intuition telling him that the clue to the Citadel's location was somewhere in there.

The Hall was a long, high-ceilinged room, its satin walls entirely covered in mirrors. It was rumoured that this room had something to do with the entrance of the Citadel, but Jack had already memorised the layout of the entire Parliament Building; there was another room behind the Hall, and there was no way a hidden passage could be inserted between the two rooms. The second time he entered the Hall, it no longer contained the large crystal throne and console the Empress had been using.

Then the door behind him shut and he saw the Empress standing near it when he turned around. She was a tall woman, he realised, being almost his height.

_"Hello, Jack," she said, as if she had been expecting him._

_"Your Majesty," he bowed, "You have a beautiful collection of mirrors here. I couldn't resist coming by to have another look."_

_The look she gave him gave him no doubt that she did not believe a word he had just uttered._

_"Yes," she replied after a pause, "Let me show you the prize of my collection."_

_She glided past him, walking towards a mirror situated at the far end of the Hall. It was a full length one, more than 7 feet tall and 3 feet in width. Its gilt frame was ornately carved, although with what patterns or motifs, Jack could never quite make out. To Jack's eyes, it was a very well-made mirror, but was easily matched by at least a dozen others in the Hall. _

_"It's exquisite," he said nonetheless, looking at the Empress as he spoke._

_"And very special," she said in turn, "I might say unique, but it isn't. Not quite."_

_She ran a hand down the side of the frame and Jack creased his brow. Did the surface of the mirror waver, just for a moment? He reached out to touch the surface, but the Empress grasped his wrist in a strong grip. They stared at each other for a moment, blue eyes meeting black ones._

_  
"Consider this carefully, Captain," she whispered, "Turn around and walk out now, and you can go back to being a TIME agent. Move forward, and there is no telling what you will become."_

_She let go of his hand. After a moment of hesitation, Jack touched the surface of the mirror. He gasped as his hand went right through it as if it were water. He could feel that it was a thin liquid surface, and empty beyond. The Empress grasped his free hand._

_"Do you enter, Captain?" she asked, and she stepped through the mirror, pulling him gently after her._

_The other side was a great hall, its domed ceiling at least fifty feet in height. Jack knew it could not be behind the Hall of Mirrors, or even anywhere in the Parliament Building. The surface must have been some kind of transmat device, and yet he felt no disorientation, no side-effects usually associated with transmatting. Everything in the hall was made of crystal or glass; the walls, the ceiling, the familiar throne and console situated in the middle of the hall. A soft light emanated from the floor and ceiling._

_Behind the throne was a stout pillar that bulged out about six feet above the ground. The bulge was a cage made of crystal latticework. Something inside that crystal cage pulsated, encased in more cloudy crystal, shining like a small moon through its confinements. He could vaguely make out a shape inside, possibly humanoid._

_"You know where you are," the Empress said._

_"This is the Citadel," Jack answered, and then, pointing to the cage, "And that is...?"_

_"The Heart of the Citadel," the Empress replied, "Everything your TIME Agency suspects of the Citadel is true, Captain. And more besides. She's alive, my Citadel. She has her tempers, her likes and dislikes. She wanted us to aid Phaeton in overthrowing the previous ruler of the Empire, and we did so."_

_"We?" Jack asked._

_  
"The Thousand," the Empress clarified, "I, too am one of the thousand Arachnids. When Phaeton died, he passed the position of Premier to his daughter Clytie. The Heart of the Citdel was dark for days when he died. You, Captain, are only the third person not of the Arachnid race to enter the Citadel."_

_Jack turned to her, his eyes troubled.  
_

"But why?" Rose asked, "She knew all about you, and wouldn't showing you the Citadel have been playing right into your hands?"

"I asked her the same question," Jack said," I asked her why she trusted me with this information, that could ruin her."

"What did she say?"

"She said that she didn't trust me. But the Citadel did."

_"The Citadel?" Jack repeated the Empress' last words, feeling a ltitle stupid. A building _trusted_ him?  
_

_If the Empress heard him, she gave no indication of it._

_"You have complete access to her, at any time," she went on in a crisp tone, and handed him a crystal teardrop, "And this allows you full access to her rooms and all her archives. You can also control her console, btu I do suggest that you consult with me about how to use them before you try anything...adventurous."_

_Jack looked at the teardrop in his hand, wondering if he was dreaming._

_"She's prepared a room for you as well," the Empress said, "Go have a look."_

_She tilted her head towards her right. There was a door there now, where before there had only been blank wall. Stepping through the door, Jack found himself in a wooden-panelled room, deeply carpeted in dark red. A four poster bed was placed against the far wall, and a fireplace was set about ten feet away from it. There was a writing table, a chaise longue, and some overstuffed chairs. A smaller door led to a sumptuously decorated walk-in wardrobe and through that, an enormous bathroom and toilet._

_It took Jack less than two minutes to decide, and about two hours to move all his things in from the TIME Agency consul house. As was his wont, he left only instructions to his assistants to send all correspondence to the Parliament Building._

"Did you find out why the Citadel trusted you so quickly?" Rose asked.

Jack shrugged.

"I don't know," he confessed," She's a lot like the TARDIS. Not just in what she can do, but how she is. I think she could tell that I would be able to see that, and that I would love her."

"Then what happened?" the Doctor piped up finally.

Jack's laughter was a hollow sound, haunted by a sorrow Rose had never heard in him before.

"I made the Empress laugh," he said," Drove her mad sometimes. Gave her pet name. Empress Isusspetta, ruler of the Spiral Galaxy. I called her Ispeth. My Ispeth. She got so angry at me once, she wouldn't see me for a whole week. I got drunk as a lord, all alone in the Citadel. She taught me how to pilot the Citadel; I taught her how to dance."

"You fell in love with each other," Rose said. She was starting to see how this story was going to end.

"God, yes!" Jack almost shouted, "All along, right in front of our eyes, and we couldn't see it. Didn't know. Didn't want to know. It was like walking on the skin of a bubble. As long as we didn't move forward, or backward, or breathed too hard, we could skim along, hold on to that magic a little while longer."

Jack sighed, his shoulders dropping.

"Then the TIME Agency gave me an ultimatum. Deliver results, or pull out."


	19. Time Lost, Time Regained

_Jack ran through the message again, feeling ill. The worst thing about it was, he could do it. Pilot the Citadel into the heart of the TIME Agency embassy, open her up for the lab boys, and get covered in glory for accomplishing the impossible. The Agency had sent countless field agents and seven ambassadors, and failed. He could have his pick of jobs after this, become one of the biggest players in the Agency._

_All he had to do was to betray the Citadel. Betray Ispeth._

"I couldn't do it," Jack said, "So I took the coward's way out: I hid. Only Ispeth and Clytie knew I was living in the Citadel. All my correspondence were sent and delivered to the Parliament Building."

He looked into the fire, hands still turning the crystal.

"I spent days fixing the Citadel. She had puppets to do most of the work, but they were clumsy and slow. And some jobs…" a smile came and went on his face, "needed the right touch."

"_After these alignments, we should be able to jump to within fifty feet of our targeted destination, rather than fifty miles," Jack said from under the console._

"_That would be good."_

_A glass mannequin stood next to the console, bent almost double to watch him work. It spoke in a stilted manner, but her voice was like the chime of a bell or a wet finger run over the rim of a wineglass._

"_Good? That would be great!" Jack said, pushing himself out from under the console to look at her, "No other ship can even come close to what you can do."_

_The mannequin looked seriously at Jack; although, there was no other expression it could have. Above them, the Heart began to pulsate, growing slightly brighter with each beat. _

"_Do you…love me, Jack Harkness?" the mannequin suddenly asked._

_Jack's first instinct was to joke and banter, but the memory of the Agency's ultimatum sobered him._

"_Yes, I do," he answered honestly._

_The mannequin knelt down next to him._

"_Do you love Ispeth?"_

_Jack became more somber. He had spent the past few months trying to avoid that question._

"_I don't know," he finally replied._

_The mannequin tried to smile._

"_You know," she said._

"_What about it?" Jack exploded, "She's the Empress of an entire galaxy, and I'm just a damned TIME Agent who's too afraid to go back and tell his boss that he can't finish the job because he's fallen in love! I'm a coward, Citadel. That's…that's all I am."_

_The Citadel reached out with crystal hands, cold and stiff, and cradled Jack's pain-filled face._

"_You are not a coward, Jack Harkness," she whispered, "You only wish you were."_

"Did you and Ispeth get married?" Rose asked, bringing Jack back from his reminiscences.

He nodded.

"We skirted around the issue weeks after that, but finally, with some help from the Citadel, we came clean with each other," Jack explained, "I proposed, but not for the reasons you might think."

Jack took a deep breath, and expelled it in a sigh.

"There's a clause in the TIME Agent's contract, that he cannot be made to divulge information in connection with his blood relations, or his spouse, if he does not wish to. With Ispeth as my wife, I wouldn't have to tell them anything."

"I imagine that the Premier wasn't happy about that," the Doctor said, his first words since they entered the library.

"Clytie was horrified," Jack affirmed, "I was all right as a brief fling, especially since I knew how to be discreet. But as an Imperial Consort? She thought that Ispeth might as well just hand over the Citadel _and _the Empire over the TIME Agency right then."

"But we did get married. It was pretty much in secret, a simple ceremony, and a few of the other Arachnids showed up as witnesses."

Jack's face became all edges and planes, tense and unpleasant in the orange firelight.

"Five days later, my boss contacted me," he went on, "Congratulated me. Told me – indirectly, of course – that he knew why I had married Ispeth. And he said the least I should do was to resign in person, do a report for form's sake, give a few handshakes. I was stupid enough to agree."

"That's when they took your memories?" the Doctor asked.

"Not at first. They tried to draw it out of me, but I was trained to resist any method of extraction, short of prolonged physical torture. They knew if they pushed me too hard, I had ways of killing myself. So they blocked off my memory of Ispeth, of the Citadel, and dumped me in an Agency hostel. Tried to pretend nothing happened."

Rose could not bear to look at the anguish on Jack's face, and leaned closer to the Doctor, burying her face into his shoulder.

"But I knew." She heard Jack continue, "I knew I was missing those two years. There was a hole there, and it was important."

For a while there was only the sound of the fire crackling in the hearth.

"You know the rest," Jack whispered, "I became a conman, a swindler. Scum. Just a criminal, looking for his next meal. And I always tried to make my marks TIME Agents. I figured that they owed me the backpay anyway."

"What about Aranea?" Rose asked, "How'd she get born if you were taken away? Was Ispeth already pregnant then?"

Jack shook his head.

"Ispeth told me before that we weren't compatible," he replied, "But somehow she did it. Aranea's not exactly my daughter, more of an amalgam of cloned parts of me, and Ispeth's body."

He looked at the crystal glinting in his hand.

"And now she's gone."

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0oo00o0o0

It was Jack now who carried the burden of guilt, who spent nights fixing the TARDIS; who sat for hours brooding alone in his room. The Doctor assured Rose that this as normal. Jack had just survived a horrific experience and lost someone dear to him. This was his way of coping.

But Rose was not sure if Jack really was coping.

Time passed, in an approximate fashion, within the TARDIS. Gradually, Jack became more like his old self, enough that the Doctor and Rose stopped worrying so much.

The crystal remained on his desk, a constant reminder of time lost. And time regained.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0


	20. A Damsel In Distress

Aranea clung to the ceiling with her forcefield, camouflaging herself to match the ceiling's slate grey colour; below her a dozen TIME Agents hurried down the corridor. Only when they were out of sight did she continue, floating along the ceiling, silent and almost invisible.

She reached the Main Hall and was dismayed – though not surprised – to find the doors locked, barred and guarded. Noiselessly, Aranea floated upwards and tucked herself above one of the large chandeliers. The huge bulbs were at least three or four metres across and more than adequately kept her out of sight.

General Valance, Head of the TIME Agency embassy, was striding in with his entourage of staff.

"Damn that girl!" he swore, "Are the wrist computers picking her up?"

"Yes, sir, but-" one of the agents replied, and hesitated.

"Spit it out, man! But what?"

"They're picking up several sources, sir," he stammered, "from many different locations within the embassy. In face, there's a signal right in the middle of the hall."

Aranea smiled; she had scattered her butterflies through the ventilation ducts once she knew they were tracking her.

"Fix it, damn it!" Valance barked, "Could it be the signal jammers causing interference?"

"Could be, sir," another agent piped up.

Valance sighed, looking tired. He ran a hand through his grey-streaked hair.

"Well, we can't do anything about that. Clytie's got an armada parked outside, and if that little chit manages to contact her, we're all in the soup!"

Aranea, crouching above, scowled. The bloody old man had patronized her the entire evening, treating her like a five-year-old. He seemed to assume that because she _looked_ about twenty, she was a young woman intellectually as well.

The worst thing was that he had boasted to her about his agents locating the entrance to the Citadel. They had tried to hurt the Citadel and now she had disappeared.

The general was gone, and only a handful of agents patrolled the hall now. With infinite care, Aranea slipped away from the chandelier and floated along another passageway. There had to be a communications device somewhere in the embassy that she could adapt and use.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Jack shoved Simkin against the wall with an audible thump. The captain was livid.

"What do you mean, we're in the year 10 billion?" he growled.

Peter Simkin, TIME Agent, had a very enviable job. He was in charge of the weapons stores of the Agency storage facility 10 DR. There were eleven such storage facilities, and individual departments within each facility was ranked according to the type of stock and level of clearance required to requisition stock from them. Simkin worked in the 10th facility, and weapons storage had the highest ranking of "D" (although it was rumoured that there was an "E" ranking for portable time travel devices) and it was Restricted Access – hence, "10 DR".

Simkin had met Jack during one of his nights out. Jack had literally saved his life that night. Being old camp mates and all, Simkin felt obliged to discharge the favour owed. He invited Jack – and more reluctantly, his two friends – to the store, so that Jack could recharge some of his weapons and perhaps pick a couple more that Simkin could spare.

And then the unthinkable happened. An emergency alert sent the storage facility whirling through time and space – to the year 10 billion, where a siege was underway and all available weapon tech was needed.

"'Snot my fault!" Simkin gasped, "Emergency muster!"

Jack let Simkin go, although he still looked very upset. This was the last place – and time – that he wanted to be in.

"At least we still go the TARDIS," Rose murmured to the Doctor. The Doctor had wisely decided to park the TARDIS in an empty room within the stores. Simkin had assumed it was merely a quirky Transmat device.

"Don't worry, Jack," Simkin said, rubbing his neck, "Just sit tight and once I've signed out the weapons they want, they'll send us right back again."

The trio sat in the spacious office as Simkin left to get on with work. Jack was definitely moping now. Rose walked over to him, placing a palm on his back.

"Any idea what's going on?" she asked.

Jack shook his head.

"Don't know. Some kind of attack on the TIME Agency here. Which should be the Spiral Galaxy-based embassy. Damn it!"

Jack punched the wall next to him with vehement force. He did not want to be here.

"You can't run away from it, Jack," the Doctor said, seeing right to the source of Jack's frustration, "Aranea has to come with us because she already has."

"And if she comes with us, she'll die!" Jack snapped, "I won't be a part of that."

"We all have to die sometime, Captain," the Doctor retorted, "She died saving lives, especially mine. Or would you rather have her die here, hounded by TIME Agents?"

"What?" This came from both Jack and Rose.

"The embassy is in the heart of the Crystal Empire. Before it can be in enough danger to require calling in an arsenal of weapons, the Empire itself would be falling. I don't think that's happening. So the most probable reason for the current siege would be…?"

He left the statement dangling.

"Because they've got Aranea, or they're attacking her," Jack finished, "They want the Citadel."

"Exactly."

Jack checked his wrist computer. He could still access the embassy network.

"Let's see what my former employers are up to," he muttered.

As information scroll holographically before him, Jack's face paled.

"Oh God," he whispered.

"What? What's wrong?" Rose asked.

Jack snapped his computer shut and sprang up.

"Don't leave this room," he warned, "I'll be right back."

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

She floated into what looked like the embassy stores, hoping to find a communication device, or at worst, a weapon she could use to blast a window open. She was running out of time; sooner or later, they'd figure out how to filter the butterflies' signals out and home in on her. Or some TIME Agent would get lucky and spot her.

Hearing footsteps, Aranea froze.

"Yes, I know there are hundreds of signals. Those are just decoys," a male voice was saying testily, "Just concentrate on her brain wave pattern, she can't fake that."

Aranea was alarmed; how did the TIME Agency get her brain wave patterns? Who was this man? He came to a stop immediately beneath her. If she needed to breathe, Aranea would have been holding her breath. He had to be a highly-ranked TIME Agent; the wrist computer he was consulting was only given to top field agents.

He looked right up at her and smiled.

Aranea released her forcefield and pounced on him. There was a brief scramble, and Aranea came to two conclusions: he was far better than her in close combat; and he was making an effort not to hurt her. They broke apart and got up, Aranea watching the stranger warily.

He was very handsome, Aranea admitted grudgingly to herself.

"Ok. I know this looks bad, but I'm on your side," he said, holding his hands up placatingly.

"How stupid do you think I am?" she snapped, "You're a TIME Agent!"

"Ex-TIME Agent," he corrected, "Captain Jack Harkness. What are you doing here, Aranea?"

The moment he said her name, Jack knew he had made a big mistake. Aranea's eyes flashed at him, her wariness becoming coloured by anger.

"_Empress_," she said coldly, "No one calls me by name, especially not someone from the TIME Agency."

"My mistake," Jack said smoothly, bowing to her, "I apologise, Empress. Why are you here?"

"You're trying to stall for time, aren't you?"

She narrowed her eyes at him.

"No, I'm trying to get you out of here alive," he replied, "and right now, you'd better fly back up again, Empress. We've got company."

She could pick up more footsteps, still faint, but getting louder. Jack stepped in and put an arm around her waist just as she was setting up her forcefield. She glared at him, but there was no time to do anything other than take him upwards with her. Aranea pinned him to the ceiling behind her so that her camouflage would hide him.

A pair of TIME Agents walked past, checking their scanners. They conferred for a minute in the corridor, then moved on. After waiting a minute for them to get out of earshot, Aranea descended again.

"I can get you out of here," Jack whispered lightly, "Empress. How about it?"

Aranea looked at him appraisingly. He looked like what Clytie would label as a "smooth talker", all smiles and slickness – until she looked into his eyes. He looked at her with concern, his light banter not quite covering the tension in his eyes. He looked at her as if she was something precious to him. That puzzled her more than anything else.

"My options are limited," she admitted, "all right."

His smile was like the sun, erasing the edges of darkness that lined his face earlier. He grasped her hand and started running.

"You'd better call your butterflies back," he commented as they ran, "It could be a bit difficult to convince the Lost and Found here to return them to you later."

She was already doing so, but again, he surprised her. How did this man know so much about her? His warm human hand engulfed hers with a familiarity she had never experienced, and whenever they paused to check the surroundings, he would pull her closer, angling his body so that he protected her.

They ran down a corridor, then through a series of doors, and finally into a large office where a young man and woman were leaning against a long wooden desk. The young woman seemed surprised to see them, but the young man grinned as if he had been expecting them.

Aranea pulled away, ready to run off.

"This was a trap, wasn't it?" she asked Jack, backing away.

"No, no!" Jack turned to her, the tension back in his eyes again, "They're not TIME Agents. This is Rose –" he gestured at the young woman," and this is, uh, the Doctor."

"Hello!"

The Doctor gave a little wave before stuffing his hands back into his pockets, his trench coat hanging insouciantly from his slender shoulders.

"If you're not TIME Agents," Aranea asked slowly, "What are you doing in the embassy?"

Jack chuckled. Rose, knowing he was going to come up with some super-slick cock-and-bull story, cut in.

"We were in the weapons store when the entire facility was shifted here for an emergency muster," Rose explained.

"You're _thieves_?" Aranea looked at them in disbelief.

Jack held up his hands, fingers upraised to make a correction.

"We were _invited_," he said, "unofficially."

"To steal weapons," Aranea said flatly.

"Well…" Jack paused, hands on hips, "Yeah."

The look on Aranea's face was so scornful that Rose started laughing.

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AN: I just want to thank everyone who left reviews, especially **FunkyInFishnet**. Thanks, people! I really appreciate it, and you've all kept me going thus far.


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